Jacen Thorne: The Discovery
by Ragingcyclone
Summary: This story is my second full story based on a character first introduced from my Dan And Alistair: Brothers in Arms blog on BSN. Jacen Thorne is former soldier turned archeologist hired by former wardens to investigate some ruins they found during the Blight. Set during the time around the events of Kirkwall and Orlais.
1. Chapter 1

_**Jacen Thorne-The Discovery**_

Eight years after the Blight...

Dorak examined the rock wall in front of him. The tunnel was indeed leading downwards, but at a slower grade than he expected. He cocked his head and ran his fingers along the rows to the ponytail at the back. The Warden Commander had sent him here to see if this truly was an entrance into the Deep Roads or just a large underground settlement set into a large hill. The collapse in this tunnel was blocking the key to that answer. He needed laborers to remove the rubble if he was ever to get that answer and finish his report to the wardens. If this was indeed an entrance to the Deep Roads it was one they did not know about, and the wardens were keen on knowing all of the access points to the deep.

"Are there any darkspawn?" a voice said behind him. "I don't think I would be able to deal with darkspawn if they are down there."

Dorak turned to examine the mage standing behind him. New from the Circle Tower near Lake Calenhad, Octavius had joined the team because of his knowledge of arcane lore. Dorak had trouble seeing the man because of his dark complexion, but the tinge of fear in his deep voice was clear.

"Well? Are there any?" Octavius asked. "You're a dwarf and a Grey Warden. Doesn't that make you doubly capable of telling if there are any down there?"

"I don't sense any...and that is because I am a Grey Warden and not because I am a dwarf."

"But don't the dwarves fight darkspawn all of the time?"

"The ones in Orzammar do, "Dorak replied turning back to the rock pile blocking the tunnel." But I was born on the surface. I had never gone into the Deep Roads until I became a Grey Warden. That was five years ago." He shook his head at the mage in disgust. Humans had always assumed because he was a dwarf that he was from Orzammar or was familiar with dwarven ways. His family had lived on the surface for at least six generations, and Dorak for one was not even remotely familiar with dwarven traditions or their religion. He was an Andrastian married to a human woman…the ancestors and paragons were furthest from his understanding. Humans like Octavius often made him want to shout out he knew nothing about rocks. "Let's just get back to the base camp. I have seen all I need to see here." He gave one last good look at the barricade of stone before turning back down the tunnel. The mage lingered behind him. "Come on…I can't see in the dark and you have the torch. Let's go."

Octavius hurried beside Dorak holding the torch high above his head. The entirety of the ruins was in complete darkness. The mage had spent the first full week just placing lyrium enhanced lighting stones throughout the structure. The main room with their base camp was large being some one hundred paces wide by two hundred paces long. There were four doors along the outer perimeter. Entering from the entrance into the large hill the door on the left was sealed and therefore unexplored as to what was behind it. Along the back were two doors leading to long tunnels. The left one had several large empty rooms, but only went about one hundred paces before reaching a cave-in that had blocked the tunnel. The one on the right, the one he and Dorak were in now, had a downward slope and Dorak measured two hundred of his paces before reaching the stones they had just investigated. On the right side of the room from the entrance was the doorway that led to the upper levels. Years before during the Blight the Hero of Ferelden and his companions had happened upon this place by accident. The Hero had explored up to five upper levels with more to explore above but had not taken the time to perform a thorough expedition of the ruins. Octavius had left his lanterns on at least twelve upper levels…with more still above that. The leader of the party, Jacen Thorne, had decided on only those floors to start off with. This current exploration was funded by the Hero, Dan Cousland, and the King of Ferelden, Alistair Therein, who was also in the party that found this place during the Fifth Blight.

The two men reached the end of the tunnel and into the glow of the main bonfire of the camp. The room overall was still dark, but the fire gave enough light that they could see their way across. Waiting for them was Jessia. She knelt next to a smaller campfire cooking. Her shoulder length golden hair was kept out of her face by a blue headcover. On her ears were golden disks almost as large as the ears themselves. She wore a thick jerkin under a leather vest tied at the waist. Her breaches matched the jerkin in both thickness and color…a dark blue to match her headcover. As the men approached she stood up and smiled at them. Dorak walked over and hugged her as she knelt down.

"What's for supper tonight?" he asked his wife. "Lamb and pea stew again?"

"How'd you guess?" she replied with a smile.

"Because that is most of what we brought here for supplies." He kissed her and turned to sit at the small table close by. While it was true that most wardens did not take spouses Dorak and Jessia were married two years before he became a warden. This was one of the few missions for the order where he was able to bring her along. He was enjoying her company while in this dark and dreary place. Plus with winter coming soon he felt more comfortable with her here than all alone back at their home in Amaranthine. Not that she wasn't capable of fending for herself…that was part of what brought them together in the first place…but the fact that Ferelden winters could be long and formidable made life hard for the residents of the country.

Dorak watched as she turned back to the kettle sitting over the fire. He remembered the day when they had first met in the Free Marches. His father was a smith in the city of Starkhaven and had a reputation of being one of the best smiths in all of the Free Marches. An Antivan noble had placed a rather exquisite order with his father for a set of armors. It was his father's finest work, but the noble was more than nonplussed over the armors. Dorak himself never learned the smithing arts instead opting for testing the weapons and armors his father made. One night he was sitting in the family living room of their house when a masked Crow assassin barged through the front door. By instinct Dorak had grabbed a longsword from the wall and confronted the intruder. They fought for some time before Dorak was able to wear down the assassin. He lifted off the mask to see a rather beautiful woman with golden hair staring up at him gasping for air. Jessia was the woman the noble had hired to kill his father, and it was her beauty…and her deep blue eyes…that had stayed Dorak's hand that night. Against his better judgment he just could not bring himself to kill her. He looked at her now and smiled. Sometimes instincts are wrong.

"So how did you become a Grey Warden?" Octavius asked waking Dorak from his daydream. The mage was sitting across the table from him shuffling a deck of cards. "Just curious since you aren't from Orzammar and been fighting darkspawn all of your life."

"He held off four Antivan Crows," Jessia replied from where she was cooking. "And a Grey Warden happened to be in the crowd watching the whole thing."

"You fought off assassins?"

"Wasn't the first time," Dorak said smiling at Jessia. He turned back to the mage. "Deal those cards and I'll tell you the whole story." The mage dealt the cards for a game of Wicked Grace. As they played he relayed how Crows had come to his father's shop. The four attackers picked a rather busy day in the market, but not in his father's smithy. Dorak was there that day to test out a new sword for one of the Starkhaven nobles. He was in the alley behind the store practicing on a combat dummy when he heard the commotion inside. Dorak had run in to see his father laying in a pool of blood on the floor, his mother crouched in the corner crying in fear, and the assassins running through the front door into the market. He chased them into the street with the intent of killing as many of them as he could before they struck him down. During the second hand of the card game he talked about the fight while people in the market ran from them in panic. Some had called the city guards who arrived after he had defeated the first two Crows. The guards had stopped him from landing the killing blow on a third while the fourth escaped into the crowd. He was imprisoned while the guards conducted their investigation, but not before his mother was slain by the fourth Crow that had escaped. By the time the warden watching in the crowd had arranged for Dorak's release Jessia had killed the remaining Crow in secret. They were on their third hand of Wicked Grace when Dorak told the mage about the warden's offer. While he did have a younger sister in Ferelden Jessia convinced him that she would be safe from the Crows. The couple, however, having killed several of the assassins and her abandonment of the order meant the Crows would still come after them despite the noble's contract was completed. The warden, a woman named Elissa Caron, offered Dorak a place within the Grey Warden order. He took the offer figuring it was the best protection he could get from the Crows. Jessia always remained nearby. While she could not stay with him at Vigil's Keep which was the warden's stronghold in Ferelden he could live with her in the nearby city of Amaranthine. It had been their home for the past five years. The Crows had only attacked them once since that day in the market with disastrous results to the assassins. Since then the Crows had been silent in their attempts at revenge.

* * *

The Templar knight stood amongst the trees listening to the forest around him. Around his neck and just under his armor was the phylactery of the mage sitting near the fire behind him. The device held a sample of her blood taken when she was first sent to the Circle. For Templars it was the only way for them to track down apostate mages…those that had left the Circle without permission. Mages held a connection to the Fade, the realm of dreams and spirits that normal people did not have. While it was true that everyone but dwarves entered the Fade even when they dreamt they were never conscious while there. Mages on the other hand were very aware in the Fade much as they were when awake. It was because of this that demons often preyed upon them in the Fade. Those mages that accepted a demon's offer became abominations that had to be destroyed for the damage they could do to innocents around them. Other mages could practice blood magic which drew its power from blood. The Tevinter Imperium was and still is ruled by blood mages. Tevinters also practice slavery and the magisters use the blood of those slaves, often with mortal results, to gain power over their neighbors. Once the Tevinter Imperium spanned the whole of Thedas but today that empire was much smaller in the north, but the fear of what they were was still real. Those blood mages outside Tevinter are now called maleficarum, and the Templars served the people and the chantry to rid the world of maleficarum and abominations. While it was true that not all mages fit either of the previous two categories the temptation was always there and because of this the Templars remained vigilant despite the uprising of the mages in Kirkwall which resulted in the destruction of the chantry in that city.

The events in Kirkwall had turned everything on its ear. Reginald was a Templar in that city and had left to find the apostate behind him before the rebellion took hold of the city. Magic exists to serve man and never rule over him. That was what the chantry taught and the edict Templars upheld. Lately he had come to question those beliefs. The woman by the fire was neither an abomination nor a maleficar… instead just a scared woman forced from her family at a young age because of a trait she had no choice of having and afraid of the situation unfolding in the Kirkwall Circle. She had fled before the fateful day when the Rite of Annulment, the killing of all mages in a Circle, had been enacted by then Knight Commander Meredith. He had been tasked with the apostate's apprehension and return to the Circle, and had he been quicker on that duty she would have surely been killed. Now he had heard rumors that all of the Circles had begun rebelling against the Templars. In fact some of those rumors held that the Templars had broken from the chantry. He shook his head and turned back to the woman by the fire. Reginald was unsure of his place in the world anymore.

"You should come sit by the fire," the woman said to him. "The snow is starting to fall and soon also night."

"I will in a moment," he replied. He brought his hand to his armor over the phylactery.

"Please join me now. I'm starting to get cold," she pleaded. She wore a red velvet set of traditional mage robes that was tight around her neck. The robes had a squarish opening in the front exposing much of her cleavage. Over the robes she wore an ankle-long leather coat lined with sheep's wool. Her slanted hazel eyes followed the Templar as he finally started moving towards her and the fire. He sat down across from her, and the fire glowed in his silvery white eyes. "What were you listening for?"

"How do you know I was listening for anything?" he asked.

"What else would you be doing? As blind as you are I know you are not looking for something." Of this she had the right of it. He had been partially blinded almost ten years before by a particularly nasty maleficar in the Free Marches north of the Vinmark Mountains. The interesting side effect was that while during very light conditions he could not see at all, but in extremely low light or dark conditions he could see fairly well. While in the dark he could not see colors or the definition that his normal sight had before the attack he could still see shapes and outlines. And despite being completely blind in daylight he was still adept in tracking mages since his other senses had heightened compensating for the sight loss. Still his eyes had changed noticeably where his normal green hue had changed to bright silver that glowed in the light. For those not used to his visage he could be a frightening site.

"I was trying to hear if there were any persons following us. There are none." He took his gauntlet off to grab a bowl of stew she had been cooking. "I do sense a storm coming, however. I can hear the winds in the higher elevations getting stronger…especially coming off that small mountain range behind that big hill to our west."

The apostate moved from her seat to sit next to him. She brought her hand to his cheek. Their breaths mixed into one large wisp in the cold air. "After the news we have heard do you really think we are being hunted?" She looked up into his eyes knowing that he could not see her…not yet. "You have my phylactery."

"Despite the rumors I don't want to take chances," he replied turning his head towards hers. "I am sure they have discovered by now that you did not simply run away nor that I am simply trying to track you down." He gently placed his own hand on her cheek. "If any Templar were to catch us…or Maker forbid a Seeker…they might just kill us both or even worse make you tranquil."

"I would rather die than become tranquil," she replied with a shudder. Very few mages chose the Rite of Tranquility. By becoming tranquil one was cut-off from the Fade and magic. Those mages that had gone through the Rite were emotionless and docile. In Kirkwall the practice of making mages tranquil had run rampant. When Reginald had learned that she was in line to have the Rite performed on her against her will he ushered her escape. He also ensured that he was the Templar sent to track her down. No single person in the order or the Circle knew of their love affair. Many had probably not conceived that one could exist between a mage and a Templar, and he used that to their advantage during the escape. Now traveling through the countryside they posed as Templar and prisoner and so far the ruse had worked. "I would rather live as we are now…on the run…than to become tranquil or see you killed. Reggie…I owe you everything I am." She leaned in and kissed him. "I love you," she whispered as their lips parted.

"And I love you, Madelyn," he whispered back.

* * *

Elaina walked yet another hallway carrying her torch to light the way. She had walked to the highest level the day before placing lyrium lanterns along the way. The mage Octavius was not in the best of shape for climbing flights of stairs. Elaina found it quite odd considering he appeared physically fit, but by the third coughing spell and wheezing fit Elaina had left the man behind. Too bad she thought because up until that point she had found him quite attractive. Now she was making her way back down to join with the leader of the expedition and his personal assistant.

Jacen Thorne had been chosen to lead the team to these ruins to find what possible hidden secrets it possessed. The Teyrn of Gwaren and the King of Ferelden had charged him with the task after his return from the village of Haven. He had gone there to study the Urn of Sacred Ashes after its location was discovered during the Blight. But it was not the lost temple in the mountain that had caught his attention, but instead he spent his time there in the library of the cultists that worshipped the high dragon that guarded the mountain temple and its secrets. The library itself contained volumes from the time of Andraste that existed nowhere else in the entirety of Thedas. It was in that library he met and fell in love with the elf Kalindra. She was there as an assistant to Brother Genitivi who was present with the Hero of Ferelden when the Urn was discovered. In fact it was Genitive's research that had lead to the discovery of Haven and the mountain temple. That was eight years ago, and now the two were in another archeological mystery. He was fascinated not only in the existence of these ruins but also how barren they were. The two former Grey Wardens had related their stories of how they had found this place and what was discovered within at the time. They had only explored the main room and the five initial floors. He was now standing on the twelfth floor, and he along with Kalindra had finally found something.

He was standing in the main hallway of the level waiting on Elaina while Kalindra examined their finding in the room behind him. She finally reached the bottom of the stairwell, and he frantically waved at her. Had she not been carrying a torch she could have walked right next to him and he would have never seen her in the darkness. Although she was born in Ferelden her dark complexion indicated she had Rivaini ancestry. Her black hair she wore long and straight down to her waist. She wore a cream colored dress with a chainmail bodice. Jacen could not understand the need for armor on an archeological expedition, but he decided to shrug it off. In the torchlight her skin glistened and not from sweat. From the sway in her walk he could not help noticing how thin her waist was which was belied by her ample bosom. While he himself had never been attracted to human women she had a figure that he guessed many men found desirable.

"By your frantic waving I surmise you have found something?" she asked once within earshot of him. "I really hope you have since I have found nothing but empty room after empty room." She watched the red haired man before her playing with his hands excitedly. His hair was tousled and was worse when he frequently ran his fingers through it. He was young, perhaps in his late twenties, but had the studious nature of an old sage. And unlike the mage down in the main level this man not only looked physically fit…he was.

"We have…we have indeed," he replied enthusiastically. "We think it's an old tool of some kind. Definitely metal…but rusted…no handle left…and a hooked blade." He demonstrated the hook with a crooked finger. "Kalindra is in the room examining it now. We're hoping you might have an idea what it might have been used for."

"No idea without looking at it," she replied, "but judging by your reaction it must be very interesting."

She followed Jacen into the room. On the far side the couple had set up a torch stand and beneath it Kalindra was kneeling over a bowl on the floor. Elaina could see nothing else in the room in the darkness. The elf had not even acknowledged their presence as they approached. She ran her fingers through her dark brown hair tucking it behind her pointed ear. Her attire, like Jacen's, was on the conservative side. Elaina thought it strange since the two women had similar builds despite their racial differences. She had not known these two for very long but was already privy that they were a romantic couple as well as an academic one. Elaina so far was fairly certain their coital sessions were more for the mechanical aspect instead of the pleasurable.

"Jacen says you have found something," Elaina stated.

"We have…look here," the elf replied.

She took what looked like an old hook shaped blade out of the bowl. Elaina held it closer to the light to examine the artifact. It was metal and the handle long since decayed with no indication if it had been made of leather, wood, or some other material. The blade itself was small…barely the length of her hand. "I believe this might have been an embalming tool," she finally said.

"Embalming? As in used for making…mummies?" Kalindra asked. Elaina nodded back. Kalindra shook her head and looked at Jacen. "That practice has long since been abandoned. Even the elves of the Dales did not embalm their dead."

"At least several thousand years," Jacen said as he took the blade from Elaina. "The last recorded use of embalming was before the blights. But we still are no closer to knowing anything about the people who lived here." He gazed at the darkness imagining the room. Thousands of years ago was this a burial preparation room? And why on one of the higher levels? "I wonder if there is an entrance somewhere up here to the top of the hill," he thought out loud.

"That is a question to address tomorrow," Elaina said. "It's already late today, and we should head back down to join the others."

"In all of this darkness how do you know what time of day it is?" Jacen asked.

Elaina yawned and pointed to herself. "That's how I know."


	2. Chapter 2

Reginald lay on his side holding Madelyn. Her arms she held close to her chest and forehead along the base of his neck under his chin. She was having yet another nightmare about the Circle. Her crying out for him in her sleep had awoken him, and now he tried to comfort her. Madelyn's experiences in the Circle in Kirkwall were far from pleasant. She had the curse of being extremely beautiful, and had twice been raped by lesser Templars before Reginald had met her. Both times she had resisted, but made to submit after threats of tranquility. She would have gladly given up her magic abilities, but with tranquility she would have also given up her emotions which was something she could never do. She loved life and all of the wondrous things around her. Her willpower alone allowed her to move past the rapes, and this trait was what attracted Reginald to her. While others feared and avoided him she did not. The first time she tried to talk to him he brushed her off. Her persistence finally wore on him, however, and soon he fell in love with her. She was curious about him and his eyes. Did it hurt when the mage took his sight? How can he tell where he is if he cannot see? Those were the questions that everyone asked of him. But then she asked if he was lonely? Had he ever married and did he have kids? Could he ever love someone…even a mage? She asked the questions he dared not ask himself because he was not sure of the answer. Eventually he answered her questions with a kiss…a reaction that surprised not only her but himself. After that moment they grew closer stealing secretive rendezvous in the Circle grounds and around the Gallows district of Kirkwall. He heard two Templars call him lucky and wondered what she saw in him. He wanted to tell them many times she loved him because he could not see her…that he treated her as a person and not just a beautiful mage they could fantasize about and take advantage of…an object of their desires. They were the rapists of this woman. He took the man on a hunt and killed him during the mission. Reginald then burned the body to make it appear the maleficar had killed the man. The other rapist, a woman, he pushed over a cliff on the Wounded Coast. The rest of the Templars believed the story of a tragic accident. No other Templars were aware of his affair with Madelyn. He never told her of what he had done…his own brand of revenge for her. Despite the rapes she had not turned to demons and become an abomination as so many other mages had under similar circumstances. He admired her willpower and determination to move past the wrongs done to her.

She cried out his name again and grabbed his shoulders. He held her tighter and whispered into her ear he was there for her. This mage…this woman…had changed his view on the world and his place in it. Reginald the Templar had hunted mages since he was a young man. He knew the dangers mages posed albeit unwillingly most of the time. He had participated in Harrowings and made the killing blow many times on those mages unable to resist the demon inside. He never questioned and never wavered in his belief that he was upholding a divine mandate. The incident with the mage that cost him his sight only further entrenched this philosophy into him. Madelyn had changed that. She did not fear the Circle system…only the Templars around her that enforced the rules of the Chantry and the Circle. Now he lay with her in the night under cover of darkness in a tent near the mountains of Ferelden. Reginald the man was a fugitive as much as she was, and he wished for one thing to be different in his life…he wished he could see her.

Reginald held her close the rest of the night until she woke with the daylight. Her nightmares were always the same since they heard the news from Kirkwall and the Rite of Annulment. She dreamt she was still in the Circle with Templars barging into rooms and killing mages in their sleep. Other times she was escaping with other mages fleeing for their lives and watched in horror as some mages…some she called friends…turn into ruthless abominations. Sometimes those creatures killed the Templars, sometimes other mages, and sometimes both just killing at will. No matter the scenario she awoke in a sweat just before her own demise in the dream. Reginald did his best to comfort her in her sleep, but always the next morning she was the happy woman he knew her to be. She had asked him once if he ever feared she was an abomination, but his response was that he had seen enough to know she was not one.

This morning as she woke she nuzzled against him. Her breath on his neck was warm and moist. Her soft touch as she lifted her hand to his face…he could almost see her smile. During the night as he held her the sounds of the night were lost to him as she was his sole focus. Now as she moved and reacted with him his senses came alive. He listened to the sound of her clothes against their blankets as she moved her arms. The hum of the lyrium in the glowlamp she used to see in the darkness and provide them heat in the cold night. Outside he heard birds singing and forest critters foraging for food. The winds howled through the trees and the tent rustled as it hit the sides. The clasp holding the flap that covered the entrance in the tent struggled as the wind tried to snap it open. He could smell the crisp and slightly sweet scent of new snow that had fallen through the night. The faint smell of her sweat covered by perfume. While his breath reeked of the previous night's stew hers was always that of fresh strawberries. With her hand on his face he could feel her soft touch and her firm round breasts again his chest. Her heart beating with his as she slid a leg over his. The clenched feeling of her body while she dreamt had given way to loose relaxation.

"I am so lucky to wake up wrapped in your arms," she whispered. "Can we spend the whole day like this?"

Her hair fell along his neck, and for the first time he realized his arm under her had fallen asleep. Her movements had allowed some of the circulation to come back as the tingling through his fingers began. "I wish we could, Maddie. But we need to keep moving…you know that." He kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly. "I wish we could." Her hair smelled like wildflowers.

She leaned up on an elbow and looked down at him. The blankets that had been up along their shoulders fell to her waist. Her nightshirt was wet with sweat and clung to her well formed body. Reginald continued to follow her movements with his face trying to move his eyes to point where he thought her face was. "We could make love here under the mountainside. There's no one in the area." She ran her hand along his chest playing with the buttons of his shirt. "I could be as loud as I can be and nobody would interrupt us."

"As much as I would like to we cannot," he replied causing her to frown. "That storm is still coming, and we need to get to a safer place than here." He reached up to touch her cheek. "Once we get to that place then we can make love all we want as we wait out the storm." He felt her smile and his heart ached as he so much wanted to see her face light up. "I promise."

"I'll hold you to that promise." She leaned over to kiss him and as their lips parted she whispered, "I'm going to ride you like a pony."

"You always know the right things to say," he smiled. He sat up and listened to her stand inside the tent. "You are such a temptress." He reached over to grab his armor that was lying to the side.

"You shouldn't wear the armor today. I can tell you are colder than I because of all the metal. It's not good insulation in the cold and wind." She was packing their extra clothing and began rolling the blankets. The blackness he saw gave way to dark shades of gray as she turned out the glowlamp to pack it into her pouch. The air turned bitter cold as its warmth was also extinguished. "I don't want you getting sick."

"I will need it in case we find a cave to wait out the storm," he replied as he pulled his boots over his feet. "If there is a bear or mountain cat inside it will protect me from its attack." He grabbed the shin guards and began strapping them to his legs. He could hear her breathe a heavy sigh. "Wipe that look from your face…you know I am right about this."

"I can't convince you otherwise?" He shook his head no to her. "I guess it's a good thing I know some healing spells."

He finished putting on his armor as she finished packing their things and took them outside the tent. He emerged later fully armored. Once the tent was packed they made their way in the fresh snow to the big hill to their west. He hoped to find a cave to settle for the storm or at least get to the leeward side and out of the wind. The new snowfall would not make their trek an easy one and what sounded to him like a half day's journey might take them the entire day.

* * *

Octavius walked along the floor of the ruin to examine the sealed door. He had been with this group for two weeks, and everyday after waking he would examine the seal. He was certain it was a magical seal, but all of his attempts to open the door had failed. This morning he carried a brush borrowed from Jacen. It was the same type of brush the academic used to wipe dust and debris from artifacts. Octavius hoped to find some form of writing or symbols that could give him some insight into how to open the door. The brush was finer and better at removing dirt than a simple swipe of his hand had been.

As the mage walked the distance across the floor his thoughts returned to Dorak's comments about the blocked tunnel they had investigated the day before. When the warden had arrived Octavius felt unnerved. Why would the famed order send someone to this desolate place unless they expected to find something related to the darkspawn? Although the dwarf had been adamant he did not know what he would find, Octavius' gut told him the dwarf was holding back on what he knew. The fact that the man had brought his wife was also disconcerting. The woman was more than she appeared. They way the couple talked Octavius was convinced the woman was also a warden or at least a fighter of some sorts. Most of the wives that the mage had encountered were mild and even-tempered. But this woman, Jessia, was a mystery to him. She was neither mild nor even-tempered. While the woman had not gotten angered at anything that he had seen, the way she carried herself and reacted with Dorak suggested she was or had been more accustomed to fighting than domestic duties. Octavius was certain he was a better cook than the woman. Still, he did feel better that if they did run into darkspawn then there would be at least two amongst them to fight the creatures should they emerge from the depths.

The mage's thoughts also wandered to Elaina. He was very attracted to the woman and woke every morning aroused. He pretended to still sleep when the woman woke so she would not see his erect member through his clothing. And while he desired her he was aware she did not share the same feelings for him. The first week he thought she might like him and perhaps even come to fulfill his physical desires, but then there was that one morning when they climbed to the highest levels of the ruin. The look she gave him as his lungs failed him…his hopes were dashed that he would ever feel her naked skin against his own. Instead he relied on the spirit in his dreams to quench his carnal desires. Since meeting Elaina the spirit had taken her form. He had always been accompanied by the spirit in his dreams ever since his Harrowing seven years ago. The spirit lived in the Fade and helped him to defeat the demon the Templars had placed there for him. The spirit never asked anything of him instead allowing him to ravage her in his dreams. She would take the form of whatever woman he desired. Once it had been enchanter Petra, and then another time it was senior enchanter Leorah. The spirit even took the form of the Queen of Ferelden after she had visited the Tower with the king. Any woman he desired the spirit would take her form and never once asked for anything in return. He stopped in front of the door and looked back at the central bonfire. If he could figure this mystery out and break the seal then perhaps Elaina would find him attractive and he would no longer need the spirit to achieve his carnal desires. He turned back to the door and used the brush to begin his painstaking work. Anything to get his mind off the woman for now.

* * *

Jessia stepped outside the cave entrance into the light of the world. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the snow that had fallen through the night and reflected brightly the risen sun. The air was cold with a bite as the wind blew chilling her to the bone. She wrapped her arms around herself as her breath formed small white clouds. She tilted her head as she thought she spied a flash of light in the valley below like a reflection off of metal. She kept scanning the valley but could not see what could have made the glare. Her keen eyes saw nothing, and for a moment she thought about heading back inside to get the elf. Elven eyes were said to better at seeing things in the distance, but the longer she looked and the glare not returned she decided against getting Kalindra. Perhaps the glare had been her imagination or just her eyes still getting used to the bright daylight after the darkness of the ruins. Either way she kept a wary look to the valley. Her years as an assassin had taught her one could never be too cautious.

"Needed a breath of fresh air?" Dorak asked as he walked up beside her. Strangers to the couple found them an odd sight. She was tall for a human woman standing at five foot nine inches. She was athletically built with lean features and a moderate bosom. She was not what one could call beautiful but still attractive enough that many men fell to her wiles when she was a Crow. Dorak, on the other hand was a dwarf who when standing next to her was a full foot shorter. He never kept a full beard as was customary for dwarves instead opting for close stubble across his chin and cheeks. His hair he kept in neatly braided rows tied into a ponytail in the back. He was also muscular by even dwarven standards. Where she was lean and tall he was short and stocky.

"Yes," she replied looking down at him. He was carrying two plates filled with bacon, bread, and some cheese. He offered one to her. "That cave is just too stuffy for my tastes," she said taking the offered plate. "Sometimes I just need to come out here for a breath of fresh air."

"I know what you mean. I have never figured how other dwarves can live in underground cities like they do. When I first went into the Deep Roads I had this awful feeling that the walls were caving in on me. One of the other wardens said I had close…clause…Maker…I don't remember what he called it." He took a piece of bacon and rolled it into his mouth…the grease dripping down his chin.

"I think it's called 'claustrophobia'…a fear of enclosed places," she replied with a grin and nibbled on a piece of cheese. Even the way the couple ate their food was as different as their appearance. "I imagine the others found it quite hilarious to meet a dwarf afraid of being underground."

"I didn't say I was afraid…just…I prefer the wide open spaces of the topside world." He rolled another piece of bacon into his mouth. "I just don't get how anyone besides the dark…" his voiced trailed off between bites. He pointed with his free hand into the valley below. Her gaze turned to follow his finger. "Is there someone down there?"

"What did you see?" she asked. "I thought I saw a glare earlier, but…"

"That's what I just saw…like someone wearing armor." They continued to look and again the flash of light on metal greeted their gaze. They looked at each other. "Are we expecting anyone else?"

"I don't know? Why don't you stay here and I'll go ask Jacen or Kalindra. They would know if anyone else is expected up here." Jessia turned and held her hand out for Dorak's plate. He took the last piece of bacon and the bread and stuffed them into his mouth. She left him alone at the entrance.

His fingers danced on the hilt of his sheathed sword as he saw the glint of light again and then again. There was definitely someone walking their way and wearing armor. He kept his vigil for a few moments until Jessia returned at his side. He glanced over to see she was now wearing her twin daggers on her belt. "Not expecting anyone I take it," he said to her.

"Nobody else according to Jacen and Kalindra," she replied…her stare not changing from the valley below. "Of course they didn't rule out the possibility of either the king or the teyrn sending someone else up here." She finally looked down at her husband. "Whatever the case it's a surprise to us…and you know I don't like surprises."


	3. Chapter 3

The hill ahead was big, but the mountain behind it was bigger. Madelyn caught a glimpse of the massive overhang of snow on the mountain's peak. That was before the storm rolled in and her visibility was diminished. She could barely see Reginald ahead of her the wind was blowing so hard. She could not hear anything except the howling of the wind. The snow had been almost ankle deep when they broke camp that morning, but now as she brought her hand up to shield her face the snow was up to her mid calf and getting deeper. The flakes were large and heavy making her grateful her leather coat shed the extra moisture. The Templar ahead of her had removed his cape when the snow started. It was soaked from the wet snow. In all of her life she had never seen a snowstorm this powerful…she was learning what a real blizzard was like.

Reginald stopped ahead of her, and when she caught up to him his face was tilted upwards towards the sky. She surmised he was listening or smelling the air trying to get their bearing. She wondered if his ability to tell where they were had been as diminished as her vision had been. "Do you know where we are?" she asked as she reached his side. "All I can see is white. White everywhere."

He turned to her and smiled. "All I can see is black…interesting isn't it?" She playfully slapped his shoulder knowing that with the armor he could never feel it. Still she appreciated his attempt at levity. "The wind is strengthening making it hard for me to hear where we are." That was not encouraging to her. She was relying on his hearing being much better than her vision. "I can, however, smell smoke in the air."

"Smoke? As in a fire nearby?" She scanned the skies but still all she could see was falling snow. She sniffed the air but could not smell anything unusual. "Are you sure? I can't smell anything."

"Trust me there is a fire somewhere near. The wood in the fire is different than the trees in this timber. Someone is camped close-by." He kept his head tilted and pointed to their right and ahead. "It's coming from that direction…I think."

"You think?"

"The wind is blowing hard enough I cannot tell for certain." He looked back at her and grinned. She hated when he had that grin…an 'I know more than you' look he would give her once in a while. Although he usually was right the smile still irritated her. "I would also presume they know we are here."

Madelyn stepped closer to the man and hugged his arm. She leaned in to talk into his ear instead of yelling like they had been over the wind. "What should we tell them once we find them? Do you think they will know what we are? Since I left my stave back in Kirkwall not everyone we have met has realized I am a mage."

"But they will know that I am a Templar. I cannot change out of my armor even if I wanted to since I hazard they already have seen it deducing what I am." He looked back at her. "But in your case they will not know what you are. If they have heard the same rumors we have about the mages in Orlais then they most likely will not believe I am just escorting you to a Circle prison." He looked back up and sniffed the air again. "I suggest we use a simpler story…you are my wife. A simple enough story I think anyone would believe."

She shook her head and looked down at her hands. A chilling thought crossed her mind. "Reggie…we are not wearing rings. Posing as husband and wife might work if we were wearing rings."

"But we also do not have Ferelden accents," he grinned. She gently pushed herself into him. "We are not used to Ferelden winters. They were lost in the snow with some of our gear…and our horse."

"Remember I said I was going to ride you like a pony?" He nodded back at her. "I lost that desire with the horse." She took off trudging through the snow towards where he had pointed.

* * *

Dorak maintained his vigil near the cave entrance to the ruins. Kalindra had confirmed there was someone coming before the storm had blown in. Although the dwarf could not see them he knew about what direction they would come from and the pace they could make in the blizzard. The elf had told him there were two people in the valley travelling up the hillside. The man wore the armor bearing a Templar sigil across the breastplate. With him was a woman wearing simple clothing and no armor. The elf had not seen a staff with the woman, but Dorak was not willing to take any chances. The past year had been unusual since the quashed rebellion in Kirkwall, and recent events in Orlais had further muddied the prospect coming up the hill…a possible mage and a Templar. The fact they were travelling alone set the dwarf's nerves twitching. Trouble was coming. His fingers continued their dance on his sword's hilt as he watched the only path to the entrance.

Inside the ruins the demeanor was calmer. Jacen and Kalindra had left for the upper levels of the ruins despite Jessia's protests. While she thought they should all await the arrival of the unexpected guests the couple remarked they were not fighters and would only get in the way if things came down to a fight. Instead they took off to do what they were sent to the ruins to do…find its secrets. Jessie was nonplussed with their reaction but after the way they talked the night before about finding an embalming tool she could only shake her head. At least Elaina had taken a dagger with her as she joined the couple in their search for more worthless treasures. So when the couple left into the darkness Jessia prepared a makeshift infirmary in case one was needed.

She had also thought about finding the mage to help in case hostilities erupted, but thought better of it. Octavius was young…she guessed him in his early twenties. The boy also had an infatuation with the older Elaina. She had seen him several mornings aroused and watching intently after the woman. Jessia had shared her discovery with her husband, and the two had spent one morning spying on the mage to see what he really did in the dark away from the others. True to his word he was off examining the sealed door…at first. After a few moments of grumbling in futility he looked back to where he had seen Elaina and started touching himself. While Dorak found the boy's antics amusing, Jessia found the act revolting. Dorak changed his mind after the mage messed himself. However, instead of telling Elaina what the mage did they kept his masturbation a secret. Perhaps they could have some fun on this trip after all. This morning she did not want to find the boy touching himself and making yet another mess of his clothing. She shuddered at the thought as she finished her work around the camp.

When the camp was set up to her satisfaction Jessia walked to her husband's location near the entrance. She brought him a coat and placed it around his shoulders when she got to his side. He was steadfast in his surveillance not even looking at her when she arrived. His eyes kept trained on the path and where he estimated the strangers had progressed. She knew he expected trouble, but he always expected trouble. She couldn't really blame him with the lifestyle they led. Even their meeting was due to his paranoia. Had he not suspected trouble all those years ago they would have never fought, fell in love, and gotten married. That aspect of his personality was also the reason they were still alive after several assassination attempts by the Crows.

"They are getting close," he said without looking at her. "I can smell them…well…at least I can smell her perfume." He kept looking towards the path. She knew better than to question him about smelling the woman. She had heard one of the wardens ask him about his sense of smell. The warden was an elf, and as Dorak looked the woman in the eye he proclaimed his keen sense of smell was a dwarven trait. All dwarves had big noses making them smell things others could not just like elves had big ears and eyes so they could hear and see better than the rest. The warden had been taken aback by Dorak's brashness until the other wardens let the elf in on the joke…Dorak just had a keen sense of smell…nothing special to dwarves. "They are definitely heading this way. And if I can smell her perfume upwind then they can surely smell our fire downwind."

"You still think the woman is a mage? Especially all the way out here?"

"Only a mage or a noble would be foolish enough to wear perfume in a place like this," Dorak replied. He pointed back towards the ruins. "Just like Mr. Untouchable in there. Primping himself every morning before heading off towards that door and then whatever else he does…with his hands." He chuckled at the last part drawing a smile to Jessia's face. "Andraste's Ass…what do mages do in those towers anyway? I mean besides bellyache about freedom and rebel?" He turned somber. "That couple down there I would wager are runaways. No other reason I can think of these days why a mage and a Templar would be travelling together. News I heard was the Circle's have all been locked down tight. Even heard of one where all the mages were killed. In Orlais those mages retreated to some abandoned fortress and the Templars are marching on it as we speak." He finally looked at her. "Unlike most people I know my sources are good and reliable. These two down there…they are running from something. And that means trouble."

* * *

Octavius looked at the bright world around him. He stood at the window looking out to the plush fields of grain surrounding his small cottage. The sun was shining and the air comfortably warm. Yawning he stretched his arms to his sides and then scratched his lower back. Mornings were always pleasant in the countryside away from the cities. The air was easier to breath and scented with wildflowers. This was his dream world…a world free of the concerns of the Circle or the waking world. This realm he fashioned the way he wanted to live. The Fade was a malleable place to him. A place to bend and fold to his will. None of the other mages in the Circle mentioned forming their dreams to their desires instead mentioning the Fade as a terrifying place. To Octavius it was the opposite. He kept his ability a secret afraid if the other mages knew then the Templars would find out and make him a tranquil severing him from the one place he could find solace. Mages mentioned a haze or distortion when they entered the Fade, but not for Octavius. His dreamscape was always vivid and alive often more than the real world around his physical body. Sometimes he wished he could stay forever in this place, and if he could find a way to do so he would.

He turned way from the window to look across the main living room of the cottage. She stood near the hearth where a small fire was burning. At least it looked like a woman. The ethereal form of the spirit was always a feminine, and he wondered if it was naturally that way or had taken the form for him since he desired women. He pushed aside the thought as he gazed upon her. Her initial appearance to him when he came to the Fade was the same every time. Almost ghostly she was neither fully transparent nor opaque, and while he could roughly see through her almost golden hue she was as solid to the touch as any person in the waking world. Her long wavy hair fell around her angelic face to the middle of her back. She stood before him in her perfect womanly form much like that of Elaina's, but she was neither naked nor clothed.

"You were just here not long ago," she said to him. Her softly seductive voice echoed adding to her otherworldly appearance. "Why have you returned so soon?" She walked across the room to him. Even her walk was seductive. And it was true he had been with her not long before as he slept through the night. He could find no clues at the door in the ruins after using the brush, so he sat down on the hard stone floor and closed his eyes to enter the Fade once more. When she reached him her hand touched his face. She did not feel like flesh but the contact was still pleasant…almost electric. "This is not healthy for you…for your mortal body."

"But I would rather stay here," he retorted. "The physical world is nothing like the Fade. Here the world can be what I want it to be," he continued spreading his arms to indicate the room surrounding them. He looked into her eyes, or more exactly at the features that served as her eyes. There were no pupils or other details. None of her features were detailed as a real person's. But for him those didn't matter when talking to her in her natural form. "Here I am not an outcast. I am someone important…to you I am important."

"You are important to me this is true," she replied. Her appearance changed to that of Elaina. Had he not known better the real woman was now standing before him with the exception of the voice. Her voice never changed no matter the appearance of the woman she changed to for his desires. "But you cannot continue to live your life here as you wish. You are a mortal and live in the mortal world. The longer you stay here with me the more damage is done to your physical body." She stepped away from him and turned to look at the fire in the hearth. She was wearing the same clothing the real Elaina wore. "We have our time together as we have always…when your body is naturally at rest. Times like now, however, are not good for you." She faced him again. "Wake and live. I will be here when you return…when your body naturally turns to sleep."

"I could give up my physical body," he pleaded reaching out to hold her shoulders. "I could stay here…in the Fade…always with you."

She lowered her head refusing to look into his eyes. She returned to her normal form, but he did not release his hold of her. "I have told you before that is also not possible. Once your spirit leaves your body you will not remain here with me. Our time together is as fleeting as your mortal lifespan." She looked back up into his face. "I cherish our time…so please return to the physical world so we can have as much of that time as we can."

"You could come with me…I could…"

"I cannot…and this we have talked about before many times. I cannot enter your world. I am no demon desiring to possess your body and live in that realm. This place…the Fade…is where I exist. It is where I have always existed. It is where I always will exist."

He let her go and turned towards the door of the cottage. He knew in this world it really wasn't a door nor were they standing in a real cottage. But his feelings about this place…and for this woman…those were real. "What will you do while I am gone?"

"What I have always done since we first met…I will wait for your return." And with her answer he opened the door and walked through ending his dream.

* * *

Reginald stood before the dwarf who was blocking the cave entrance. He kept himself between the man and Madelyn protecting her. He could also hear the breathing of another person with the dwarf, but because that person had not said anything he could not tell for certain if the breathing was of a man or a woman. There was no smell of perfume, but out here in the Ferelden countryside he had come to realize perfume was not as common as it had been in the Free Marches. He kept his hand away from his sword but still positioned close enough to counter any move the dwarf might make. He could hear the other fingering the hilt with a drumming sound…one finger at a time…and the man had done this since the first of their encounter. When he and Madelyn had arrived the dwarf accosted them asking who they were, where they came from, and what they wanted. They had told the man their story of a married couple lost in the Ferelden wilderness looking for shelter from the oncoming storm. The dwarf believed the latter, he hoped, but the man did not believe they were simply a married couple. The dwarf was insistent Madelyn was a mage and was not sure with recent troubles regarding the mages that he wanted a Templar and a mage within their company. If some of the rumors were true Reginald could not blame the man or his silent partner for not wanting them around.

"I ask again…who are you really?" the dwarf asked for the fifth time. The drumming stopped. "I don't plan on asking another time." Reginald could hear the agitation in the man's voice. His patience was almost gone. Silent partner moved beside the dwarf and took a defensive stance apparently armed as well.

"Just tell them, Reggie," Maggie said behind him. Her teeth were chattering from the cold. The winds had picked up more as they had gotten closer to the cave entrance. There was also a low rumbling in the air he could not quite place. "The sooner we get out of the weather the better."

"Yes, Reggie, why don't you just tell us like your friend says," silent partner spoke. A woman…her voice soft and pleasant with just enough of harshness for Reginald to tell her patience was as thin as the dwarf's. Suddenly there was a loud boom like a close thunderclap coming from the other side of the hill. "What was that?" He could hear the others look towards the sound as the woman spoke, but he already knew what was happening.

"We must get inside…and quickly," he said.

"Not so fast…not until you answer my question," the dwarf replied. The rumbling changed to the sound of low rolling thunder. They did not have time to waste. "Then I may consider it…may," the dwarf continued.

"If we do not get inside and quickly our names will not matter."

"And why is that?" silent partner asked.

"Reggie!"

He stepped closer to the dwarf. He heard the swords of both begin sliding out of their sheaths. He held his hands up. "Do you hear that?" he asked. The thundering was becoming louder. Without waiting for a response he continued. "On our way up here my wife…yes…she is my wife…noticed the mountain behind this hill had a large overhang of snow at the top. That sound is the snow. There is an avalanche coming our way and if we do not get inside quickly then it will bury us all out here in the open…" he let the last words hang in the air. Breaths stopped around him as the two plus Madelyn contemplated what he had just told them. Every second the thundering increased in volume…could only he hear it? "I will tell you everything you want to know once we are inside, but decide now. Do we get inside so we live for you to hear my tale…or do we stay out here and die?" He felt the air thicken as the avalanche approached…a lot of snow.

"Fine," the dwarf finally replied. "Inside…hurry!"

Reginald grabbed Madelyn to push her ahead of him. Her safety was his primary concern. He listened to the others running inside the entrance. He hoped the cave was deep enough the snow wouldn't fill it, but the alternative was worse. The thundering of the avalanche was deafening now. The snow was close and there was a lot of it…enough to blanket the entire hill by what Reginald could hear. The smoke he could still smell but still a distance away giving him hope. The snow came barreling though the entrance as the avalanche ran past the cave entrance. He was at the rear of those fleeing the catastrophe and the force of the snow wave took his feet from under him. He listened to the others continue further into the cave as the snow covered his prone body. The weight was unbearable as he tried to pull himself forward. The last thing he heard as the snow covered his head was Madelyn yell his name.

* * *

On the twelfth level of the ruins the three academics studied the rooms. The finding of the embalming tool had excited them including the usually reserved Elaina. At first the discovery had meant nothing really significant but as the three talked the night before she was more convinced these ruins had a story to tell…an old story. She was in a room by herself examining the walls while the couple searched in another room down the hallway. She used a torch stand from one of the previous levels to hold hers leaving her hands free to use the brushes should she find something. She was examining a crack near the base when the whole structure began shaking…knocking her to the ground hard. She looked up in time to see the stand crash to the floor spilling the torch and embers. The room darkened as the fire from the torch extinguished. What had just happened?

Jacen ran into the room with torch in hand as the shaking stopped. She spied Kalindra standing beside him with a tear in her sleeve. Jacen also had a small trickle of blood running down the left side of his face. "Are you alright, Elaina? What was that?" the elf asked. "The whole place just started shaking. Parts of the ceiling collapsed in our room." She motioned to the couple she was unhurt. "We need to get Jacen to the main level. A rock from the ceiling hit his head."

"I am fine," the man responded. "It's nothing…really. Elaina, are you sure you are ok?"

"Just a little shook up," she replied as she stood. Looking down she noticed she had scraped her right knee and tore the legging over it. "As for what that was I have no answer. Are we entirely sure this structure is stable?"

"To stand here as long as it has it has to be," Jacen replied. He suddenly leaned against the doorway. Kalindra took his arm and placed it over her shoulder to help him stand. Elaina limped over to take the torch from his other hand. "I think…I think…I may have been hurt worse than I thought. The room is…spinning."

He slumped as Elaina caught his other arm to keep the man from falling. He was not heavy but still a burden to the two women who were nursing injuries of their own. "Perhaps we should try to get him down to the lower levels," she said. They began their way down the hallway to the stairwell. This was going to be easier said than done.

* * *

"Reggie!"

Octavius emerged from his Fade dream to tremors shaking the floor beneath him knocking him to his side. He looked towards the entrance where he heard the woman's scream. The voice was one he was unfamiliar with. He started to stand when he noticed part of the large camp fire had fallen over and set their camp ablaze. Running towards the fire he began speaking the words to cast a cold spell. As he approached the fire he stopped and raised his arms. Finishing the enchanting spell, wisps of cold air and frost sprouted from his fingertips growing wider the farther they travelled to encompass the entire camp dousing the flames. The room plunged into total darkness.

* * *

"Please….you have to save him," Madelyn pleaded to Dorak. He shook his head as he turned around to see the mountain of snow that had funneled into the entrance. The Templar was not in sight leading Dorak to understand the woman's pleas. He ran to the snow and started clawing at the mound…the man was somewhere underneath. He listened to the pleas of the woman behind him.

"Tell me who you are," Jessia said behind him. He kept digging as the light from the fire left. Now in darkness his only sensation to tell where the man was rested in his hands that were becoming numb from the cold as he dug. "My husband is digging to find your friend. Now you tell me who you are and what you are doing here." Jessia was always businesslike when it came to a crisis.

"We come from Kirkwall," the woman began frantically. He could hear her sobbing as she spoke with a twinge of deep helplessness. She was a very attractive and elegant looking woman, and even in the darkness he could imagine the tears flowing from her brown almond shaped eyes. "We escaped a year ago and been on the run ever since here in Ferelden," Madelyn continued if that was her real name. "I was a mage from the Circle there, and Reginald was a Templar. When he found out they were going to make me tranquil because of a lie he helped me flee, and he came with me."

"Go on," he heard Jessia ask pressing for information in the darkness. "We know what tranquility is and why the Templars use it. Why were you going to become tranquil? Are you a maleficar?"

"No! I was…I refused to perform sexual favors for one of the other Templars…so that man made up lies about me to his superiors. He told them I was a blood mage. I am no blood mage…I cannot even cast a decent fire spell. Reggie…he…you have to save him…PLEASE!"

"Dorak will save him if that's even possible," Jessia stated. Dorak smiled to himself as he kept digging. "You need to continue telling me about this business in Kirkwall and how you ended up here." His wife was persistent.

"Please," Madelyn pleaded, "save him…he's the only person in the world that means anything to me. If I lose him…I would rather be tranquil than to live without him. Please!"

"You keep talking and I'll keep digging," Dorak said in the darkness. He trusted his wife's instincts. His fingers were now completely numb from the cold. However, the man had warned them of the avalanche which he found odd considering the strangeness of the eyes…silver colored. He owed him at least an attempt at saving the man's life since he had effectively saved theirs.

"Yes keep talking," Jessia said backing Dorak. "The talking will help keep your mind occupied while Dorak digs to find Reggie." He wished there was some sort of light in the tunnel as he was searching blind with no feeling left in his hands which were the things he actually needed feeling in.

"Ok," the mage whimpered. "Reggie…he found out about the order and told me about it. We're lovers, you see, and he was not going to let that happen. So he told me of a plan to leave Kirkwall forever. Since he was a Templar we figured nobody would realize we had run off together. We kept our love a secret." He thought he heard the woman kneel or sit on the ground…his hearing was never as good as his sense of smell was. "All we wanted was to find a place to live in peace away from the troubles of the Circle. To have a life of our own like normal people." Through the rest of the woman's ramblings Dorak was able to gather that the strangers had been on the run and never really aware of what was happening with the Circles throughout Thedas. They had heard rumors but nothing truly substantial. Running had become a way of life for them. As she told her tale of the rapes, the man's unique blindness, and their tribulations he began to pity them. Not much unlike his own situation with Jessia these two people just wanted to get away from a past life fraught with misery and suffering. He couldn't blame them now for the fake story…he would have done the same and had with Jessia in the past. He continued digging with increased fervor as the mage told more of her tale with this man Reggie. Assuming she was telling the truth, and judging by the interjected pleas for him to dig faster, he found himself admiring this man and woman…a kinship.


	4. Chapter 4

Sharp stabbing pain greeted Reginald as he woke under the snow. He could smell blood…his blood. He also recognized the salty sweet taste of it on his tongue. The pain came from his left shoulder and arm as it had been wrenched by the avalanche when his shield was forced from his back and over his head. The shoulder he knew had been dislocated. His breastplate and the shield were he reasons he had not suffocated as the snow barreled over him while he ran into the cave. The weight of the snow pinned his legs, and he could not move. At least the canopy of his shield left him air to breath, but for how long he could not ascertain. He prayed at least Madelyn ran far enough into the cave and to safety.

He opened his eyes and saw his left hand near his face…his right arm was pinned like his legs. He blinked in shock…he could see his hand as clearly as if he were looking at it on a bright sunny day. This could not be for this meant he was either dead and in the Fade or delirious and his senses failing him. The stone beneath him was light brown like sandstone, but the texture was smooth as granite. His fingers of his left hand were a twisted blend of black, silver, flesh, and red. He attempted to wiggle them but failed sending another jab of pain from his attempt. These sensations told him he was still alive, but the return of his vision unnerved him. It should be pitch black under the mountain of snow over him, and at best in the dark he was only able to see shapes without details. And yet now he could not only see details but color as well. Euphoria settled upon him as he reveled in the return of a sight long taken from him. With the return of his vision he would finally have the opportunity to gaze upon Madelyn's face. He knew what she looked like from the touch of his fingers along her elegant features. But to finally see the color of her skin, her eyes, her hair, to see her lips as he moved in to kiss them. He had to escape this horror of snow for now more than ever he wanted to see his love for the first time.

* * *

Kalindra sat next to Jacen's unconscious body somewhere near the fourth level. With Elaina's help they were able to carry him this far, but fatigue set in before they could reach the main level where the others were camped. At least the tremors had stopped as well as the debris falling from the ceilings and walls of the ruins. Her glowstone was nearby on the ground, and she ran her fingers along his hair moving matted strands from his face. A stone the size of a fist had fallen during what she thought was an earthquake striking him on the side of his head. He moaned from time to time and opened his eyes. She felt only the small cut near his temple and hoped the injury was not life threatening. Her arm throbbed from where a similar stone had struck her, but the injury was minor and only an inconvenience. Elaina had continued on towards the main level with the intention of finding one of the others to help get Jacen back to camp. Kalindra hoped the others were safe and unharmed. Quakes were not that common in Ferelden but occasionally occurred. Usually people were not in the middle of forgotten ruins when such events happened, and for this instance she was thankful the quake was not what she assumed a major one. She had learned during her studies as an assistant to Brother Genitivi that such events had after effects like additional tremors and hoped the other woman returned soon with help before those started.

Jacen moaned next to her and she leaned closer whispering in his ear. He tried to speak but instead only uttered incoherent babble. After a moment he fell silent again. She placed her hand on his chest and said a silent prayer. Then she placed her hand on her belly and said another one. Kalindra had convinced Jacen to take this job because the payment was large by way of comparison to others they had worked. The money from this excavation would allow them to find a home to raise the child she was carrying. None of the others knew about her pregnancy, and their hope had been to finish the job before the child was born. In their excitement in finding the lone embalming tool their timeframe had changed. They had found something where they expected to find nothing. Their initial plan was to map the empty ruins and report back to the king and teyrn. But that single tool had changed everything. At the time it signified that perhaps there was something to find in this place. They wanted to find those secrets that had been lost to the ages. Now as Jacen laid hurt beside her the tool meant nothing. She only wanted to get him to safety even if that meant leaving the expedition to some other scholar. Where was that woman and what was taking her so long?

* * *

Octavius cursed to himself. He had lost his glowstone somewhere near the door, and in his haste to douse the fire before it consumed the camp had not bothered to retrieve it. Now with the fire extinguished the room was completely dark. He could not see anything. He heard the voices of the warden and his wife arguing with a woman somewhere to his right, but in the dark he had no idea what lay between him and them. He strained to see anything in the darkness. How stupid could he be to lose the only glowstone he had with him and worse yet why hadn't the others used theirs? And where had the ones around the room gone? He had placed the damn things everywhere throughout the complex including the upper levels. He looked up but saw nothing. No indication of any light from the others coming from the upper levels that should have been visible from below in the large grotto. The spirit was right. Had he kept his mind on what was happening around him in this world instead of running off to his dreams every chance he got things might be different…at least for him perhaps.

The mage took a few steps trying to remember what the place looked like before he cast his cold spell. A few more tentative steps told him the area immediately around him was clear. With outstretched hands and small steps he moved in the direction of the voices. One of them would surely know what to do and what had happened. Another few steps…and another few…he was making progress. When his foot struck an object he stopped. He slowly knelt down flailing with his hands to determine what blocked his path. He felt something cold and hard, but without seeing what it was he had no clue what was before him. Kneeling further he felt a sharp pain in his backside. A sword or knife or something had just stabbed him in his ass. He screeched in pain and jumped forward only to collapse onto and over whatever had been blocking his path. As he fell he ripped his sleeve on something else causing him to scream again. Nothing taught in the Tower prepared him for something like this. He was blind in total darkness, stabbed by something in the ass, and now his clothing was ripped. How could this get any worse?

* * *

Reginald heard scraping on his shield. Someone was digging for him. He had tried to call out when it first started, but he was unable to make a sound. While the breastplate kept his chest from getting crushed and thus allowed him to breath, there was still enough pressure that he could not take deep breaths to utter a word. He waited patiently as the scrapping became more frequent. It moved further down his body across the breastplate. The pressure lessened enough for him to speak when the shield was moved. The strap caught along his arm and instead of speaking words a yelp of pain escaped his lips.

"I found him," he heard the dwarf yell out to someone. "And he's alive."

The dwarf yanked on the shield causing more pain to grip his body. "Careful with that shield," Reginald called out. "The strap is still around my arm and my shoulder has been torn out of its joint."

"But at least the pain tells you that you live," the dwarf replied.

"Did Madelyn…is she safe?"

"She is…and she has told us everything. Can you see the shapes around you? It is dark in here and none of us can see anything."

"She is unharmed?" Reginald asked again.

"Singular of focus I see," the dwarf said with a hint of amusement. "As I said she is unharmed. What about you? Besides your arm are you hurt elsewhere?" Reginald saw the shield move enough that he could see the dwarf above him. This was the same man that had confronted him before the avalanche judging by his voice. The man's fingers were red from the cold leading Reginald to believe the dwarf had dug him out with his bare hands.

"Otherwise I am unharmed," Reginald replied. The pressure along his legs lessoned. The dwarf had help…the woman perhaps? "I owe you my life for saving Madelyn."

"It's because of you my wife and I live as well, so consider this a repayment," the dwarf stated. "I have removed most of the snow I think. Can you move? In this darkness I cannot tell for certain." Reginald strained from the pain and aches moving his legs. He struggled to stand and was surprised the dwarf helped him. "Careful as you stand," the dwarf said, "the snow pile is quite high as I can tell…well at least from my perspective that is."

The shield fell from his shoulder with a silent swish as it stuck in the snow. Reginald looked around him seeing what the others could not. The dwarf beside him was dressed in what he recognized as Grey Warden attire. What was a warden doing out in this area of Ferelden? He looked ahead into the tunnel to see the woman standing near Madelyn. The woman was human, and the dwarf said she was his wife. Reginald laughed inside marveling at what circumstances could have possible brought about this coupling. The mage, however, drew his attention. For the first time he was looking at the woman who had changed his life for the better. Her black hair was tied in the back into a ponytail. Her olive colored skin matched her brown almond shaped eyes…eyes now stained red from tears. His heart broke as he looked upon her. She was in pain and he was the cause of that pain. "Maddie!" he called out to her.

"Reggie?" the woman said looking in his direction. She started to move towards his voice. "Reggie…you are safe?"

"Stay there…I will come to you," he replied. As he walked towards her he noticed the immense room in the background. The tunnel opened into a large underground room. It was not natural like a cave but carved from the stone much like the dwarves did in their Deep Roads and Orzammar. In the middle of the room was a dark skinned man fawning over himself amongst what looked like the remains of a camp. Except what was in the middle with the mage Reginald saw little else beyond the light brown stone that was present in the tunnel. 'What was this place?' he thought. His attention turned back to the woman he loved. "My arm is injured but otherwise I am fine," he finally replied. He approached her and brought his good hand close to her face. "Do not fear, my love. I am here." He placed his hand on her cheek, and she closed her eyes as she brought her hand up to his. "I am sorry to worry you," he said, "but I am eternally grateful you are unharmed."

"I told them everything, Reggie. I just wanted you safe in my arms." Her eyes searched the darkness where she assumed he was standing. Being able to see her he almost forgot that it was completely dark for her and the others. They could not see while he could. It dawned on him that his vision had never been taken away but altered…reversed. Her other hand touched his cheek and he closed his eyes. "They would not help find you unless I told them about us. Can you forgive me?"

"There is nothing to forgive," he replied. "It is I who must apologize for scaring you and causing you pain."

"Enough with the sappy stuff," the dwarf said behind them. "Right now we have others to find. You…Reggie is it?"

"Reginald…but seeing as you save my life Reggie will suffice."

"With your arm can you still at least see where our friends might be? When the light extinguished I was certain something happened to them inside here as well. We have four others with us. One, the mage, should be in this main room somewhere to our left. The others went to the upper levels this morning."

"Upper levels?" Madelyn asked. She was now hugging Reginald's good arm. He could see both a mixture of fear and relief in her face. She was quite striking. He always knew she was beautiful, but that was not what had attracted him to her. But he never quite realized before just how striking this woman was…and she loved him…ugly and emotionally scarred. "What is this place?"

"These are some old ruins found during the Blight," the woman responded beside them. "We're here to see what this place was long ago when people lived here."

"And how is it you have a mage with you?" Reginald asked. "After the events in Kirkwall I thought the rumors stated the Towers had been locked tight."

"The Hero of Ferelden and the King both have some influence with the Chantry and the Circle. And since they are funding this expedition they were also able to secure a mage…although except for laying glowstones everywhere he really isn't much use." The dwarf laughed as he said the last part.

"Why would the Hero and the king care about a place like this?" Madelyn asked.

"Because they were the ones who initially found it," the woman replied.

"Well then I would guess that is the mage then near what must be the remains of your camp. Looks like parts of it have been on fire. He's got something stuck into his backside…a knife maybe? And right now his is trying to pick himself from the top of a fallen tent." Reginald chuckled to himself. The mage was indeed having difficulty in the dark.

"That explains why the fire went out," the woman replied.

"And when I get my hands on that twerp…" the dwarf's voice trailed as Reginald watched the man stalk straight for the mage. How the little man could see his way Reginald was not certain, but then again how would a blind man make his way? He laughed drawing stares from the two women.

* * *

Reginald had the two women hold hands as he led them back to the camp. There was also another woman who came from what he surmised had been the upper levels. She carried some sort of torch or glowstone as when Reginald saw her, the area around her was gray and a black orb existed where she held the light source near her. After the dwarf was able to calm the mage the camp fire was relit and Reginald was once again blind as he had been. However, he held the images of Madelyn close to his heart for he might never see her that way again. When the fire was burning brightly the dwarf left with the second woman and the mage leaving him alone with Madelyn and the dwarf's wife.

"Reggie," Madelyn began, "earlier you said you could see the room and everything. But the way you talked you saw it differently. Has something happened to your vision?"

"I am curious as well," the woman added. "Gray shapes was all she told us you could see, but you described the camp as having been burned which is much more than just vague shapes."

He tilted his head towards the woman's voice and held Madelyn's hand. The injured shoulder had been reset into its socket and with a bit of Madelyn's healing magic the sharp pain had been replaced with a dull throbbing. "What she told you is true…I am sorry, but can I at least get your name? I assume Madelyn has already told you ours."

There was a brief silence followed by a heavy sigh. "Very well…my name is Jessia. The dwarf you talked to earlier is my husband Dorak…a member of the Grey Wardens."

"Why would the wardens be interested in this place?" Madelyn asked.

He heard the woman shake her head. "He tells me how he was able to see clearly first…then I might tell him why the wardens are interested in this place."

"The answer is that I do not know how I was except a theory," he replied. He hoped the warden's wife would believe him. "While I was buried in the snow I saw color for the first time in many years. When your husband freed me from my tomb I could see everything around me as if I were standing out in a bright sunny day. It was also the first time I have ever seen my love here." He squeezed her hand, and she reciprocated. "Dorak mentioned that it was completely dark and none of you could see. Normally in darkness I can see only shapes of gray with no details. When the other woman…"

"Her name is Elaina…one of the academics here," Jessia interrupted.

"Elaina…when she arrived she must have been carrying a torch or glowstone."

"She had a glowstone that is true," Jessia replied.

"To my vision it was a black orb and around it gray shapes until I saw full color further away from the light."

"Much like colors fade into darkness for us?" Madelyn asked.

"Correct," he answered, "so the accident I think never actually blinded me but instead reversed my vision. Where as before I could only see gray shapes is because those areas were never truly dark. There is always the light of the stars or the moon or streetlamps…something that adds light in even small capacities. But in here…there was absolutely no light at all…none. In that total darkness with no light anywhere I was able to see clearly for the first time. How this is possible I do not know. And as I said this is only a theory…but it is the only explanation I can think of." He listened to the silence of their breathing.

"Interesting," Jessia finally stated. "I cannot say that it is wrong for I have never heard of anything like this. Were you not sitting here as you are I would not believe it even possible."

"And yet you believe us?" Madelyn asked.

"I have seen some strange things in my time, honey," Jessia answered. "Including the reason we are here. One of those tunnels in the back may lead to the Deep Roads. If it does is why Dorak was sent here. Plus wardens were the ones who found this place." He heard Jessia stand and pace a little around the fire. "Is what you say true? I cannot judge. Are you faking your blindness? Were it not for the strange appearance of your eyes I might be inclined to believe that you could be faking. But the way they shine right now in the firelight…like a cat? Some say cats see very well in the dark. So I am inclined to accept your answer however improbable as it may seem." He heard her sit down again. "But once you go into the Deep Roads, honey, believe me there are stranger things in this world than a man who can see in the dark. So to answer your question…yes…I believe you."


	5. Chapter 5

The world was dark around him but he was certain he was floating. Or at least he thought he was floating. Faint murmurs spoken in incoherent languages permeated his thoughts. Where was he? Who was he? He struggled to answer these questions. A memory came to him from when he was a young lad. He was standing in a courtyard of a castle with another boy his same age. The other was the child of someone important. Concentrating he focused on the other boy…his name…it was Fergus…Fergus Cousland. And there were two other children nearby…a boy and a girl just a few years younger. The girl had read hair down to her shoulders with light blue or maybe green eyes. His recollection was fuzzy. The boy with her was…bald? He was no longer a boy but a man…a hero…the Hero of Ferelden. The man was wearing the armor of the wardens…the Grey Wardens. He had ended the Blight. And the girl was now a woman and queen. She had married the king…Alistair…the bastard son of Maric. He looked back to the other named Fergus, and the boy was now also a man. He seemed happy but still full of sorrow. His family…they had been killed…betrayed…by a friend. He concentrated harder. These were his childhood friends and now adults. He was grown as well and with a woman. Her name? He struggled to remember her name. She was with child…his child…they were a family…Kalindra…her name is Kalindra…the elven woman who captured his heart while they were somewhere. There were books…lots of books…in the Frostbacks.

His memory was starting to return. His name was Jacen Thorne. He had grown up in Highever. His mother was the wife of Bann Loren, but his father was a commoner. He remembered more. The man Fergus was his best friend even to this day. He had been asked a favor for Fergus' younger brother who lived in the south. His lover, Kalindra, had told him to take the job that was offered by the Cousland family. She told him of their coming child, and with a desire to raise a family he had agreed to discover what some old ruins had to tell. Those ruins…that was where he was. He was in the ruins with Kalindra, and a mage, and a warden along with his wife. The murmurs were still permeating his senses, but the language was clear. A fall? No…a snowfall. A lot of snow. He remembered now the tremors and running to find Kalindra. There was dust and pebbles…and sharp pain. His head! A rock had struck his head!

Jacen's senses began to return with his memories. He was lying on his back…possible on a cot since the surface he laid on was not hard nor did it hurt him like stone would. The voices were women talking about him and the snow…no…an avalanche. An avalanche had fallen blocking them inside the ruins. He opened his eyes to see hands directly above his face. There was a faint blue aura around the fingers. He changed his focus as his vision began to clear. A strange woman was over him. Her eyes were closed and she was whispering something. The hands belonged to this strange woman. She was easily the most beautiful woman he had seen next to Kalindra. The sharp pain he remembered from before was gone. Was this woman a mage? Was she using healing magic on him? Jacen tried to sit up but was pushed back to the cot by the familiar touch of his lover.

"You need to rest and lie still," the elven woman said softly. "You took a nasty bump to the head."

The glow from the hands diminished as the woman slowly opened her eyes. Deep brown almond shaped eyes the belied a deep compassion. She withdrew her hands as a smile crept upon her face. The emotional display made the woman even more beautiful. Jacen felt a ping of guilt as a slight feeling of arousal gripped him. Perhaps this was an aftereffect of the healing magic? He turned his head to see where he had heard Kalindra's voice. Her hair was matted and sweaty, but she was still the most beautiful woman in his eyes. She wore a look of concern as she leaned closer to him. "Are you alright?" he finally asked. She nodded back affirmation. He reached for her hand. The movement felt sluggish to him, but she grasped his hand and held it tightly. "And the…baby?" He heard a couple of shocked gasps as Kalindra smiled at him.

"And the baby," she replied. "I have a few minor scrapes and bruises, but nothing as bad as what happened to you."

"You never told us you were pregnant," he heard the woman Jessia ask.

"My pregnancy is none of your concern." Kalindra tightened her hold on his hand. "And we were not expecting any danger here in these ruins."

"It's still not that good an idea," the woman Elaina said. He saw Kalindra look away. "With all of the dust and possible molds and fungi…being here is not a brilliant idea."

"The baby is in my womb, Elaina, not my lungs," Kalindra retorted. "You worry about what you came here to do. My health and that of my child are mine and Jacen's concerns and nobody else's."

Jacen closed his eyes and fell back into slumber as the woman continued their argument over the rationale of a pregnant woman working on an archeological expedition. As he drifted to sleep he knew he would hear the details later from Kalindra, but at least for now sleep took him to oblivion and away from the turmoil of the women.

* * *

Octavius could barely feel his hands. He had been casting fire spell after fire spell trying to melt the snow that covered the entrance. He had been going at this act of futility for hours now. The dwarf and the Templar were behind him talking and sometimes encouraging him to continue his efforts. He had asked the Templar several times if the other mage could at least help in his endeavor. The answer was always the same…the woman did not know fire spells. He rubbed his hands along the side of his robes. How could any mage leave a Circle without learning at least a few basic fire spells? He wasn't asking her to immolate a horde of darkspawn…just melt some snow.

He raised his arms to cast yet another spell. As with every time before some of the snow would melt only to be replaced with more snow from above. The avalanche was so large that he began to wonder if they would ever make it out of this place alive. He wanted desperately to be with the spirit in his dreams. Any berating she might give him paled in comparison to the constant failure he was engaged in. He narrowed his eyes and focused on the snow-packed entrance. His fingers glowed yellow then orange as he whispered the incantation for his spell. Flames leapt from his fingertips as he completed the spell. The snow melted as the flames touched the mound. He held his breath and strained with the mana drain as he kept the spell ignited. He wanted this ordeal to end. The flames sprouting from his fingers widened. The heat singed his eyebrows and the front of his upswept hair along his forehead. Normally he would have stopped at even the slightest damage to his appearance, but his animal instincts took over. He did not want to die in this cage of a ruin with the others. He wanted out. After a couple of minutes the fire extinguished and his arms slumped to his sides. He breathed deeply and looked at the entrance. The opening was staying...but that always happened. He counted to ten. Snow fell back in to fill the entrance. He shook his head in exacerbation. Again the snow fell negating his efforts, and he hung his head.

"I think that almost did it," Dorak said to his side. "I can see daylight." Octavius looked back and the dwarf was right. The snow only covered about two thirds of the entrance with open sky and daylight above it. "Just one more spell ought to do the trick."

He spun on the smiling dwarf. "Why don't you just dig the rest of the way? These spells are exhausting you know!" He was angry at how the dwarf just sat back letting him do all of the work. And then there was the Templar who said nothing. Just like back at the Tower. The Templars were always there. When he got to the ruins it was the first time in his life that he could remember there was no single Templar around to watch him…spy on him…and now by pure chance a Templar was here now…watching. Was there no way for him to escape the buggers? Not to mention there was their leader, the man in charge of their little party here. He had to get himself knocked out by some falling rocks. What a convenient way to avoid the laborious task of escaping this tomb.

"Dorak is right, Octavius." He turned to look at the Templar. He had strange eyes that glowed. Of course the Templar would want the mage overexerted. What better way to control the mage than have him exhausted. He glared at the man. "The sooner we can access the outside and ascertain what has happened the better. And you have the ability to make that happen better than the rest of us."

"Plus," the dwarf added, "My wife has some sugary cakes I am sure she will part with provided you help us get outside." Octavius then grinned. He did like sugary cakes…

Jacen left the bickering women behind him. He supposed they were less bickering and more chatting, but there was a definite tension in their voices. When he awoke again their discussion had changed from Kalindra's pregnancy to the mage Octavius. He didn't wait long enough to find out what they were talking about instead opting to see what had happened. He only caught something about the man and his infatuation with one of them. Because of Madelyn's healing magic his head only throbbed instead of pounded. He crossed paths with the mage in question on his way to the outside. The man looked haggard and was walking back towards the main camp with no knowledge he was the current subject of the women's attentions. Apparently much had happened while he was unconscious.

Jacen walked through the entrance to the outside to see Dorak standing next to a bald man. Dorak was looking up the hill while the bald man looked another direction. He was wearing a leather shirt and breeches. His left arm was in a sling. The dwarf called out to him as he approached, and the bald man turned his head to look in his direction. His eyes were silver and gave him a countenance Jacen found slightly unnerving.

"How's the noggin'?" Dorak asked.

"Better thanks to our guest healer in there," Jacen replied. "Mind catching me up on the details of what happened? The women have…other things on their minds." He smiled at the dwarf.

Jacen listened as the two men filled him on the events of the morning. He regarded the Templar with fascination as the revelation of the man's vision was explained. Possibilities rambled in his head at the ramifications Reginald's eyesight could provide. Perhaps this man could see what remained hidden to them regarding the sealed door. Of the whole site that was the biggest mystery. A mage that had travelled with the wardens during the Blight surmised it was magically sealed, but Octavius was unable to make the same conclusion. He hoped time and again that the mage who had been here before could join them to ascertain how to open that door, but assurances from both the teyrn and the king meant that was an impossibility. And the added problem of light meant they could not fully see the door. This man's vision gave them the chance to see that door in a way no one had since the civilization that lived here vanished.

"So," Jacen said afterwards, "since that crisis has passed we can begin examining the ruins as we have been."

"Not so fast," Reginald replied. "The situation has changed considerably."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"He means that," Dorak answered pointing up behind them.

Jacen turned to follow where the dwarf pointed. The mountain behind the hill with the ruins had a large overhang of snow. Jacen now saw that the avalanche came from the mountain and with the snow all now around them the peak was exposed. At the top was a castle that had been buried for ages. There were no clear paths to the castle. In fact the sides of the structure from their vantage ran straight down to sheer cliffs. He stared in awe. There were watchtowers and a high wall. The castle appeared to encompass the entire summit. Nowhere in all of his studies had he read of a place like this. Questions ran through his mind at this new discovery. Who built it? Why here? How did they get to it? How were they going to get to it?

"You want to get up there…don't you?" He turned to look at the blind man. "I cannot see it, but Dorak has described it to me. I must admit I myself find it quite fascinating."

"Too bad there are no more griffons," Dorak stated. Both men looked at the dwarf. "Grey Wardens used to ride griffons before the beasts became extinct. To build a place like that…I bet they had griffons."

Jacen looked back at the castle. Of course! The dwarf had reasoned the answer so simply. How could he have not seen it before? Griffons were mounts even before the Grey Wardens made them famous with their order. The wardens used the mounts to fight the dragons that led the darkspawn hordes. Jacen always understood that to fight a flying enemy one would need to be flying as well. But this new discovery…the ramifications…could they be looking at a civilization that lived solely on the existence of the animals? A sense of euphoria settled upon him as his imagination ran with the implications of the structure high above them. He could see entire kingdoms based on griffons moving their supplies and people. Wars fought between the different factions high in the air. Knights battling high above them much like modern knights on horseback. Images swirled in his head like a child hearing myths and legends for the first time. Before him was possible proof that those legends could be true. The use of griffons also explained why the castle had watchtowers and high walls. He desperately wanted to climb the mountain to the summit to see that place firsthand.

* * *

"I was never a powerful mage," Madelyn stated. "I was taken to the Circle when I was eight."

"But if you are not that powerful then how did they discover you?" Elaina asked. Jessia and Kalindra sat nearby listening to Madelyn's tale.

"A boy and I were playing one day and he was hurt. I remember seeing a cut on his arm. He was crying and that made me cry. So I closed my eyes and wished for the cut to disappear."

"And?"

"It disappeared."

"That's it?" Elaina asked incredulously. She cocked her head to the side. "You didn't burn down someone's house or accidentally kill their cat with a flash of lightning? You just healed a boy's cut?"

"That's it," Madelyn replied with a nod. She took a bite of the cheese the women had been sharing.

They had been talking about Octavius until he had come near the camp. Jessia had taken the liberty to mention the young man's infatuation with Elaina and the morning ritual the mage performed. Elaina herself was repulsed while Kalindra and Madelyn burst into fits of laughter. The discussion provided a moment of levity in the heated debate on Kalindra's decision to come on the expedition despite her pregnancy. She was able to convince the others that the decision ultimately belonged to Jacen and herself, and that in the days before the avalanche there was no inkling of any danger that might hurt her or her unborn child. So when Octavius had arrived Elaina avoided the man entirely while the others stifled their laughter with snickering and giggling. Confused, the mage left their company after only a couple of minutes and had retreated into the darkness like he did every morning.

"Do you suppose that Octavius…that's his name right?" Madelyn started. Jessia nodded back. "That Octavius is over there now…you know?"

"I don't even want to think about it," Elaina responded.

"He could be touching himself right now thinking of you," Jessia added. She smiled at the human academic. "Just imagine if he was touching you…they way he would feel…"

"Don't even go there," Elaina interrupted. "That boy will never have a chance with me…never."

"But he could be…quite endowed," Kalindra said with a giggle.

Elaina looked at her in shock. "Kalindra? You?"

"I'm just saying," she giggled again. "Why do you think I am with Jacen instead of an elven man? Besides…you know what they say about Rivaini men…" Jessia and Madelyn both stifled laughter.

"I will have you know I am also Rivaini," Elaina said with a dry expression. "And let me assure that is simply a myth."

They were interrupted with Jacen running towards them. He was excitedly out of breath. He grabbed Kalindra's hand and began dragging her back to where he came from. "You have to come see this," he said.

"See what?" Elaina asked. Kalindra was already on her feet and trying to keep up with Jacen's lead. The other women also stood to follow. "Can't you just tell us instead of dragging her like a doll?"

"Trust me," he replied with a wide grin keeping his stride. "You just have to see this. Words cannot describe it."

They followed him through the entrance to the outside of the ruins. Dorak was staring at something behind them while Reginald stood next to him listening. Jacen pulled Kalindra to a stop and turned her around. He pointed to the mountain behind the hill. "Look!" he said as he pointed. Her eyes widened in amazement and a wide smile crept across her face. The other women stopped to look at what he was pointing at.

"On the very top of the mountain…is that a…"Elaina started to ask.

"It's a castle!" Jacen exclaimed.


	6. Chapter 6

Jacen's first inclination was to scale the mountain to reach the castle, and it was after several convincing arguments from Reginald, Dorak, and Elaina that he was talked out of such a folly. Mountain climbing itself was inherently dangerous, but the recent avalanche covered the entire mountainside with fresh snow making the hike extremely hazardous. He had returned to the camp with Elaina and Kalindra to discuss the future of their expedition and theorize their new find. Dorak remained outside assessing their ability to travel down the hillside as it was also now covered with new snow. Travel from the ruins now seemed a long off prospect. Reginald took the opportunity to explore the ruins. He requested Madelyn stay at the camp since most of the ruins still lay in darkness. While he would have no trouble seeing his surroundings she could not.

He found the mage Octavius alone along the far wall where the sealed door existed. The man paced in circles talking to himself. The former Templar stayed just out of range of the mage's glowstone watching the troubled lad. Reginald deduced the mage was very talented in magic but had also led a sheltered life in the Circle. He had seen many like this one during his tenure as a Templar in Kirkwall. Octavius was the type that always cared about how they looked more than concentrating on their actual magical studies. He was probably popular with the female mages and well versed in the arts of seducing them. Reginald smiled as he thought of one mage in the Kirkwall Circle who exhibited a penchant for the women of the Templar Order. Many of them found the man odd, but some had actually fallen for his wiles. Later it came as no surprise to him that the mage had become an abomination. The woman sent with him on the hunt had shared intimate nights with the mage, and when the time came for the confrontation she hesitated and was killed by the demon. That momentary delay had proven mortally fatal. Octavius reminded him of that mage, but at least the woman Elaina had not shown the interest in this mage he had shown in her. Still, Reginald vowed to keep a close watch on this man. If the mage decided to shift his desires to Madelyn then Reginald would not hesitate to kill the man before anything could endanger the woman he loved. The irony of Reginald's own relationship with a mage eluded him.

Tired of listening to Octavius' muttering's of self gratitude, Reginald set his attention to the tunnel Dorak had mentioned with a cave-in. The warden had been sent to see if that particular tunnel led to the Deep Roads. The dwarf had mentioned the cave-in would require several more men and many hours to clear if it could be cleared at all. Reginald walked the length of the room to the door that led there. His vision had not returned to the full color he experienced while in complete darkness. The light from the main campfire dimmed his vision to seeing only the gray shapes he was accustomed to. He found the doorway and stepped into the tunnel. Here the light of the fire diminished considerably and color returned to him albeit very faded and pale compared to before. The walls and floor were the same kind of stone near the entrance. No adornments covered the walls or any markings to indicate where this tunnel may lead. The tunnel itself came to a corner after about fifty paces in, and once past that Reginald could see almost completely. The cave-in ahead was clear to him, and it was not natural. Someone had deliberately caused the collapse sealing the tunnel. He shook his head in bewilderment. Dorak had examined this tunnel using torches, and as Reginald knew sometimes that kind of light can distort what one could see and was very limited. He walked closer and touched one of the stones with his free hand. It began to turn gray.

"See anything that tells you where that may lead?" Dorak asked behind him. He turned now from the gray shapes to look at the black orb that had emerged behind him. The dwarf of course would carry a torch.

"You are the first person to sneak upon me in years, warden," Reginald laughed. During his examination of the stones with his full vision he had forgotten his training…he forgot to listen. "I never heard you come up behind me."

"It's a warden thing," Dorak replied. Part of Reginald's vision restored as the dwarf doused the torch. "That better for you?" The dwarf smiled. Odd that he had not looked at the dwarf before. The warden was wearing what Reginald figured was the uniform of the order. Having not met many dwarves himself Reginald couldn't ascertain whether this man was indicative of his race or exemplary. He thought perhaps the latter since the wardens garnered a reputation of recruiting only the best. "Jessia mentioned you had come this way. I was hoping with your night vision you could perhaps see that pile of rocks better than the rest of us could."

"I believe the cave-in was deliberate," he replied to the dwarf. "The stones are well suited to the edges of the tunnel. I can see nothing of the tunnel beyond these stones. In a normal collapse I would suspect to see something beyond, but in here I can see nothing."

The dwarf nodded and scratched his stubble on his chin. "Then perhaps this tunnel does lead to the Deep Roads after all."

His vision grayed again as he heard footsteps come along the tunnel. A black orb rounded the corner behind the dwarf driving Reginald back into darkness. The sounds and smell, however, were unmistakable for him for they belonged to a woman he was intimately familiar with. "I think I know how to open the sealed door," Madelyn stated.

* * *

Jacen stood beside Madelyn next to the sealed door that had remained a mystery since first seen during the Blight. With everyone with the exception of Reginald now standing behind them holding glowstones she ran her fingers along the edge of the door. Octavius had scoffed when she first mentioned her theory on how to open the door to reveal the passage beyond.

"There is no magical incantation that opens this door! I have tried everything I can think of," the mage had protested to her.

"Magical incantations don't work because it's not a magical door," she had replied. "You as a mage should have been able to sense if there was a magical ward on the door…and there isn't one."

Jacen had been more receptive to Madelyn's idea. Despite the grumblings of Octavius, they had extinguished the camp fire plunging them into darkness when the sun fell outside the entrance. She was convinced a trap or lever…something existed as a trigger to open and close the door. Limited in their vision in the ruins due to the darkness, she convinced Jacen that Reginald with his unique ability could find the switch and unlock the door. They were all amazed at what Reginald had discovered. Lines along the floor they had assumed were just outlines of the stones he revealed had definitive patterns. Being a soldier most of his life he recognized outlines of buildings and stations where soldier's barracks would have been. He detailed a more complex city by the outlines left along the flooring. Following one of these led him to a block in the floor slightly discolored from the rest sitting not more than fifty paces from the door. In their limited light sources the academics could not see the detail Reginald could. Now as they faced the door he posed ready to release the trap holding the seal on the door.

"Now, Reggie," Madelyn called out. She could hear his foot stomp on the block, and as he did the door began to lift upwards. The sound of stone grinding on stone was deafening. Dust and pebbles dropped to the floor as the door continued to rise. Finally the door stopped, and the scene on the other side was horrific. Skeletons littered the hallway behind it. Some wore armor while others were layered in the rags that at one time had been their clothing. She turned her head to look away. There had been hundreds of them as far as they could see in the light. Beside her Kalindra gasped. Madelyn saw Reginald approach and hugged him close burying her face in his chest.

"What…what happened here?" Jacen said near the door. He was shaken judging by the sound of his voice. "It's like they all died trying to escape something. They're clustered at this door trying to get out."

"The door was locked from this side," Elaina replied. "Like a trap sprung on an animal. They were trapped by the people who were on this side."

"But there is nothing left in here. None of the buildings are left. None of the rooms on the other levels have anything…" Jacen's tone told her of his dilemma.

"Whatever that answer is…it lies in there somewhere," Elaina replied. "We need to see where this tunnel goes."

"Not all of us go, however," Reginald added still holding Madelyn. She did not want to see what lie behind the bodies. This was a mystery she did not want to know the answer to. "I suggest only a couple of us explore this tunnel at first to see what dangers these people were trying to escape."

"I agree," Dorak added. "Jacen, you and I will go ahead to see where this tunnel leads. The rest should stay behind here until we know what is in there."

"You are not leaving me behind!" Elaina stated. "We finally find something here…and I will not be left behind."

"Fine, but everyone else stays here," Jacen said.

"Are all of you people forgetting something here?" Octavius asked. Madelyn turned to look at the mage and noticed everyone was looking at him. "The bodies?" He pointed to the skeletons littering the tunnel floor. "Something killed them. And I don't care how long ago it was that something is probably still in there!"

"You're right," Jacen replied. "So you should come too."

"Me?"

"You," Dorak answered. "If it's magical…we'll need a mage."

Octavius continued to protest but lost to the determination of Jacen, Elaina, and Dorak. Soon after they left into the tunnel leaving the rest in the main level of the ruins. She finally led Reginald back to the camp. She couldn't bring herself to let go of his protection now that their new discovery had shown fatal consequences to someone.

* * *

Jacen held his glowstone ahead of him peering into the darkness. Every step crunched with the brittle bones beneath their feet. They were now over one hundred paces into the hall and still bodies were strewn everywhere. None of the bones indicated violence, but Dorak was pragmatic enough not to take chances. He was ahead of Jacen with sword ready at the side. The tunnel had led downwards, but now started to level out. He listened to the mage at the rear muttering to himself about his dire lot in life. He shook his head in frustration. The mage didn't have to like what they were doing, but if they came across something magical then Octavius was the person they needed along for this exploration. He was determined whatever happened to these people the danger was long since gone.

Dorak came to a bend in the tunnel ahead and held his hand up signaling the others to stop. Jacen walked up beside the dwarf. Ahead were steps leading up. He exchanged glances with Dorak and shrugged his shoulders. The dwarf sighed and slowly continued forward. The steps led to a landing and then another set of steps. This continued for another four hundred paces. By the time they had reached the sixth landing the bodies were gone. Ahead of them was a tunnel leading as far as the light allowed them to see.

"I think this leads into the mountain," Dorak finally said. Jacen and Elaina stood beside him as Octavius lingered behind.

"You think up to the castle?" Elaina asked. Jacen nodded next to her. He had been thinking the same the further they had walked. He had been pondering during their walk about what had led the people to come here and die trying to leave. Had there been a plague? A war? Were they locked out or in? Since they had opened the door he hoped it led to the castle. Seeing it set on the summit filled him with all kinds of wonderment. Questions had been bouncing in his head since he had wakened after the avalanche.

"Should we get the others?" Octavius asked. "I mean…if this leads into the mountain we should have safety in numbers…right?"

"I don't think we all need to head up in to the mountain," Jacen replied. "But we should head back and pack some supplies. I think we will be on this trip for quite some time."

"Agreed. We should also bring that Templar with us next time," Dorak stated. "That sight of his I think will come in quite handy here in these dark tunnels."

"You mean we have to go back? Why don't just two of you go back and I will stay here with Elaina while we wait?"

"I'm not staying here alone with you," Elaina scoffed at the mage. "Besides we could all use a rest I think. Get some sleep and then come back up here fresh." She started walking back down the steps. Dorak filed in line behind her with a big smile on his face.

"But that means walking back through all of those bones," the mage protested. Jacen walked beside him. "Do we all have to go back?"

"You can stay here by yourself if you wish," Jacen replied and walked past to catch up to the other two. "Although who knows what horrors lurk up here in the dark." He heard the others chuckle at his last remark.

* * *

Octavius watched the others leave him behind. Soon the only light he had was the glowstone in his hand. He looked around and listened to the darkness. There was nothing around and the crunching of the bones under their steps had quieted. He couldn't believe they would leave him here by himself especially after all he had done. He had placed the glowstones all through the ruins, melted the snow after the avalanche, and kept his calm during the whole ordeal. The thought of walking back through those bones, however, was too much for him to take. He decided he would be better here by himself for the night. They were academics after all. They would return. He sat down with his back to the wall. There was nothing here…nothing at all. He drifted off to sleep.

He looked around the castle. The sun was shining and birds flew in the air. Everything was calm and peaceful. Beautiful tapestries were hung everywhere. Some depicted great mages in epic battles. Others were just pleasant collaborations of colors dancing. He walked the hall to the master's bedroom. This was his castle high in the mountain. He was the ruler of all he could see and also the most powerful mage in all the land. This was the world as it should be. And she was his queen dutifully waiting for him as he walked into the doorway. She was standing next to the hearth. Her long black hair ran straight down her naked back to her buttocks. Her chocolate colored skin was smooth and unblemished. He hardened under his robes, and he removed them as he walked across the floor to her. Without saying a word he grabbed her shoulders and entered her from behind. She moaned as he took her. An animal lust overtook him as he ravaged her willing body. He never noticed the spectator in the doorway watching him as he satisfied himself with the woman of his desires.

* * *

It walked from the shadows as the others left. The dreamwalker was lying on the floor sleeping. Thousands of years as these mortals measured time had passed since it had been in the presence of a dreamwalker. One of the races that lived here…the elves they were called…called the dreamwalkers somniari. It didn't care what they were called, but they were powerful for its kind. The ability to live both in this mortal realm and the Fade was a thing few beings could master. When it was younger? Or merely early in its existence in the Fade it desired to live in the realm of the mortals. What they called the real world. The waking world. It was tired and bored of this world. To live and have power in both realms…that was a pleasing thought. It knelt on the ground next to the sleeping human. It peered into the walker's dream. Watched him ravage the spirit living there. The lust they shared tasted sweet. Pleasures of the flesh. But pain was sweeter. The old bones along the floor were all that remained of the last time it had tasted something so sweet. This one…this one could revive that taste if only it could seduce him to let it take over his body. It turned its head at a familiar scent. It stood and walked back into the shadows…back into hiding. It watched the ethereal thing come next to the human. The guardian. The one that had kept it trapped in these tunnels for so long. It would have to wait. The guardian had left the castle above. The castle where the guardian lived with its minions. The guardian must have smelled the mortals as well. It watched the guardian stand again and leave down the tunnel where the bodies lay. The guardian was looking for the others. It crept back out of the shadows and peered into the walker's dream again. The taste of the pleasure was sweet. It gave the human a suggestion…and the pleasure was mixed with a little pain. Oh the sweet taste of the pain…

* * *

The guardian entered the throne room of the castle and sat at the head of the oval table. She placed her hand upon a book set to her right. Around her sat the other eleven members of her council. Each had remained behind these many centuries to safeguard the castle after the Tevinter magisters had sacked the city so long ago. The attack had sundered the veil to the Fade allowing demons to flow into the mortal realm. She along with the others had sealed the breach as best they could and then defeated the demons left behind…all but one.

"How did these mortals find the controls to the door?" the elf to her left asked. He had been her first back when the Tevinters attacked. "Have they let the creature escape?"

"The creature has not escaped," she replied. The others murmured around the table. "They have stayed in the old city except one. That one sleeps in the tunnel."

"If the creature finds them…the killings will start again." The human man at the opposite side of the table from her spoke. "We swore an oath to keep that from happening. We must find the creature before it can strike."

"I agree," a human woman said to her right. "It thrives on pain."

"It thrives on pleasure," the elf man stated.

"It starts with pleasure, but progresses to pain. You should remember what it did to your daughter," the human woman replied.

"I remember what it did to a lot of people's children," the elf replied.

"Enough!" the guardian exclaimed. The others looked to her. "This bickering gets us nowhere. The fact is that the door has been breached. That also means that the sealed tear in the veil is vulnerable. There are two mages amongst them that I can sense. The creature will be drawn to them first." The murmuring began again. She raised her voice to rise above it. "We must protect them from the creature at all costs. Should it possess just one of them it will be able to leave this prison and wreak havoc upon the world. This cannot happen." She looked at the others. Each one had sworn themselves to her service for however long was needed to protect Thedas. "Go. You will find the female mage in the old city. Dathon…the male mage is in the tunnels leading into the mountain. If any of you see the creature…kill it."

The others nodded agreement and left the table with the exception of Dathon. The old human warrior walked up the length of the table to stand next to the guardian. He sat in a chair beside her and placed his hand on hers resting on the book. She looked into his pale blue eyes. "Centuries ago I didn't question your methods or your reasons for doing what you felt was necessary. Keeping the creatures contained here I agree was necessary. But now…"

"Now the mortals have returned. And the hunger is still loose in these ruins…somewhere," she replied. "The tear must be kept sealed…and they endanger that."

"We are the reason for the tear, Lillith." He stood up. "Once the creature is slain…we should leave this realm as we were meant to long ago. Let the mortals find this place again…and bring it back to life." He walked to the doorway and stopped. "We should never have bound ourselves to the spirits in the first place. Our old mortal frailties have corrupted them."

"Dathon…we are the spirits. These bodies were already dead or dying when we crossed over," she said to him.

"And in the process took over their identities…and their lives. But what are we now?" He left the room leaving her staring at the space where he had stood.


	7. Chapter 7

Jacen pulled tight on the leather belt as he fastened the last piece of his armor. The worn brown leather set had seen him through several adventures and battles not the least of which was the final battle in Denerim that ended the Blight. He had softened a little since concentrating more on studious endeavors than in his youth when he followed the elder Cousland son on any and every adventure the man could think of. The armor was rather tight on him as he had gotten older. Fortune favored him twice during the Blight. The first when Fergus chose him to join his scouting band into the Korcari Wilds near Ostagar. He avoided the slaughter at both Highever Castle and King Cailan's massacre at Ostagar. The second time was after that final battle and meeting Brother Genitivi. The first had spared his life, and the second had led him to his current life with a woman he would not have met otherwise.

"I have always liked the way you look in those," he heard Kalindra say behind him. They were still in their tent and out of view from the others in their party. He turned to face her. She was smiling and holding the sword given to him as a gift by Fergus Cousland. When the Cousland brothers reunited after the final battle in Denerim, Dan had returned the family sword to Fergus. That sword had killed the Archdemon, and Fergus intended to keep it in service during his time as teyrn. This blade she held before his was a sword commissioned by Fergus from Jacen's father before leaving Highever for Ostagar. Though he had never had a chance to name it, Fergus had been proud of the sword enough he gifted it to Jacen afterwards while they were still in Denerim. The silverite blade shone in the light cast from the glowstone in the corner of their tent. The grip was fashioned after the same manner as the Cousland sword forming a cross. He crossed the tent to stand before her and lifted his arms high. She reached around his waist and fastened the sheath to his belt. She then handed him the sword. As he sheathed the blade she turned back to the chest behind her. She knelt down and picked something out of the chest. When she stood with her back to him he came closer and hugged her from behind placing his hand on her stomach.

"Are you ever going to name that sword your father made?" she asked.

"I'll let our daughter name it," he replied.

"And if we have a son?"

"I am hoping for a daughter…one that looks just like you."

She chuckled at his statement. "You know our child will be human. Our daughter would not look like me," she finally stated.

"Then like you with round ears instead of the pretty pointed ones," he teased and hugged her tighter. She leaned into him but still looked down at what she held in her hands. After a moment of her silence Jacen relaxed his grip. "Something troubles you."

She turned in his hug to face him. She looked up at him and brought a necklace around his head. It was a talisman her family had owned since before moving to the Dragon's Peak alienage when she was a little girl. Her eyes concentrated on her hands fastening the silver chain around his neck. "My mother told me this once belonged to a Dalish woman she met when she was a young girl. The woman told her this was enchanted by a Keeper to ward off the spirits that live in the Brecilian Forest. When I left to join Brother Genitivi she gave this to me and told me the story behind it. This should ward off any evil spirits you might face." When she finished she looked into his eyes. "Are you sure this in necessary? I have a bad feeling about all of this."

"There's nothing to worry about," he said reassuringly. "It's just an old castle at the top of the mountain. I sure there is nothing left up there."

"But not certain enough that you wear these old leathers and carry a sword?" She lowered her hands to his chest and buried her head. "We're not the same youthful kids gallivanting through the Frostbacks or hiding out in the library in Haven."

"As I recall we were fornicating more than gallivanting during those days," he said with a smile.

"I am being serious," she said with a small punch to his chest. He playfully winced at her. "We are going to have a child soon. Our lives can't be as carefree any more." She looked up at him. "I just want you to be safe."

"I promise not to take any unwarranted chances. The armor and sword are just a precaution because Reginald and Madelyn suggested it. As new as they are to this group I feel I can trust their instincts on this. I still think there is nothing up there but old ruins. If we are lucky there might be some intact tablets or scrolls or manuscripts that might tell us what happened here."

"Madelyn thinks there might be dangers there…magical dangers. This place has been hidden for who knows how long. And with all of the bodies lying in that doorway…something terrible happened here. I know it." She buried her head back in his chest. "No matter what you find…you come back to me."

* * *

Reginald scouted ahead in the tunnel while the others lagged behind. Their light was far enough behind him he could almost see clearly. The walls and floor of the tunnel were much different in color than in the main ruins where they camped being almost reddish. Still, the stone had the same texture as the rest, and he was certain all had been built by the same people. While the dwarf had not seen the damage, Reginald was certain these dead had met with a lot of violence. He had seen enough bloodshed to recognize that some bones did not match the others around them. In some places bones had been shattered and not by footsteps from the previous night or from the ravages of time. He knelt down and picked up a skull. The jawline was elongated more than a human's….probably belonged to an elf. This one had been crushed along the back by a blunt object. He looked at another close by that was definitely human. Several fractures existed along the browline suggesting a blow to the front of the head and face. Several skeletons wore armor of a style he was unfamiliar with, but what were missing were weapons. He had walked some four hundred paces and not seen a single weapon or shield amongst the bodies. This massacre was not the result of some plague or famine. What he saw suggested the actions of some sort of beasts or creatures…or in his experience demons. And these people had tried to escape in fear. Enough fear to drop whatever they were carrying.

* * *

It watched the hairless one pick the bones of the prey. He walked without light like the others. It tried to avoid this human. He was different. He could see in the dark places. It was afraid of this human. It had not lived this long by being bold or aggressive. It fed on the pleasures and pains of others working with subtly to get what it needed. The other ones like it had done the killing and torture. It relaxed in the shadows as the pain and terror had reigned over the mortals. Their panic was sweet music to its ears, a sweet taste on its tongue as they thrashed about in the tunnel trying to escape. And then the ethereal ones came. They hunted and killed the others like it. They hunted it for many years…many centuries…they still hunted it.

It moved away from the hairless one and decided to retreat to where the dreamwalker rested. It was so weak from the lack of living mortals and now with the dreamer here it knew it could feed again. It could grow strong again with the dreamer. He was open to suggestion. He had desires in his dreams that mixed both pleasure and pain. It craved both if it was to grow strong again. It needed to grow strong to survive the ethereal hunters.

* * *

Reginald stared at the corner of the bend ahead and cocked his head. He thought for a second he had seen a white orb ahead, but in a blink of an eye it was no longer there. White for him meant there was something dark. He could not fathom what it could have been, however, as it was smaller than the size of his fist. He knew some mages could summon spirits from the Fade that were mere wisps. Perhaps he had seen one. He stood to walk to the bend and looked around the corner. Nothing seemed out of place…with the exception of the mounds of bones along the floor.

* * *

Octavius lay in his bed completely satisfied. He had lasted longer than he ever had with the woman lying next to him. She was sleeping. Several times in their lovemaking she had asked him to stop what he was doing, and yet he continued knowing the pleasure he was receiving. The spirit was always accommodating to his desires, and this time was no different despite her pleas.

"I thought you desired this woman, Octavius." Her voice made him sit up. He looked to his side where the woman was still sleeping. "How could you do the things you did to her if you feel anything for her?"

He looked at the doorway and saw the spirit standing within. She was not in the form of any woman she had been for him. Now she was a glowing form of a woman. "You've never said anything before," he replied confused. "And you never stopped me."

"I left when you started sodomizing me," the spirit said. Its voice resonated through the room yet was barely a whisper. "The one beside you now is the manifestation of your own ideals of this woman. What you did to her I would never allow you to do to me. Do you think the woman in the waking realm would allow you to do those things to her?"

"I…I don't understand." He looked back at the woman in the bed beside him. He suddenly realized she was not sleeping but was unconscious. Her body bore bruises along her buttocks and back…bruises along her neck where he had strangled her repeatedly while he satisfied himself. A wave of guilt washed over him as he understood he had not made love to this woman…he had battered and raped her. He buried his head in his hands. "What have I done?"

"Indeed…what have you done, Octavius? What made you think this was acceptable? In all of our times together you have never done this." The spirit solidified into the shape of his mentor from the Circle. A woman who though many years his senior had been his first sexual experience. "Have you done this kind of thing before? In the waking realm of mortals? Has this been what you have always wanted to do with me?" She crossed her arms and stared at him. "This is not acceptable to me at all, Octavius. I doubt it is acceptable to any woman you have or will encounter. If this is what you truly desire…"

"It's not!" he answered raising his head from his hands. "I don't know what came over me…I don't understand any of this…" He could not fathom how things had turned from the pleasurable experience he had in this dream to one now full of guilt and regret.

"I am ashamed of you, Octavius," the spirit replied as it turned to leave the room. "I am leaving for now. I do not know when I will return. What you have done…I must think about this, Octavius…about us…" She left him alone in the room.

He looked after where the spirit had been, and then back at the women beside him. The bruises and cuts nauseated him. But he could control his dreams, and he closed his eyes. When he opened them again the woman was awake and smiling…her skin unblemished. The tortures of his previous actions washed away. He knew this was not the spirit but instead his ideal of the woman Elaina. Her naked body was enticing and almost instantly he was aroused again. The spirit was gone, but this woman was still here. The guilt vanished and he moved over her. He rolled the willing woman onto her stomach and took her. He was deaf to her moans of pain…he was satisfying himself as he had before. He pulled on her hair…this is what it would be like with the real Elaina…

* * *

It sat in the corner of the room and watched the debate between the spirit and the dreamwalker. Soon the spirit left. It moved closer to the dreamer and whispered into his ear. The man began again…the mixture of pleasure and pain. It felt the power surging within as this man ravaged this woman. But it was not enough. Dreams could only do so much and came only from one mortal. He whispered to the man again. Soon…in the mortal realm where the pain would be more real and intense…soon…

* * *

Dathon walked the tunnel to the old ruined city below the mountain. He could feel the strain on the tear to the veil as he finally approached the sleeping mage. He gasped as he realized what this human was a somniari. If the demon ever discovered the mage and realized his abilities…the atrocities could start all over again. Worse still was the fact this mage was capable of bending the Fade to his will as he dreamt…the veil could be torn asunder again as it had been all those years ago. This man was the danger to the entire world both mortal and immortal. Dathon reached down to grab the hilt of his sheathed sword. Better to kill the man now before the damage could be done. Better to end the threat.

He looked around in the darkness trying to sense the demon. It had to be small now after so much time without mortals to feed upon. It had always lurked in the shadows. This demon was also smaller than the others working on suggestion and subterfuge rather than brute force or outright possession. This demon he had hunted for as long as he had existed in this realm. It was the most dangerous kind of demon holding power over not only mortals but other demons as well. Some misjudged the creature because of its size. During the first hunt the elf warrior Malthus had spared the thing instead opting to hunt the larger pride demon. That was folly as Dathon now understood. The real threat was still here…still alive…and still hungry. The carnage below was its design turning mortal upon mortal. He blamed himself for their deaths because he had realized the true danger too late to save the people. But he was not too late to save the world.

While the others had concentrated on sealing the rip in the veil he had sealed the mountain. He made his way past the humans and elves while they massed in their orgy of pleasure and pain none aware of what they were doing to themselves and each other. He found the trigger to the door and sealed it. Then to hide the trigger he destroyed the city in the hill leaving nothing behind. Without a trace of any evidence behind he had assumed the place would go unnoticed, and it had until now. After sealing the door Dathon collapsed the tunnels leading to the Deep Roads of the dwarves. Of all the mortal species living in Thedas they were the race capable of solving the riddle to the door leading to the mountain castle. How wrong he had been in this thinking.

He paused as he heard footsteps coming towards him. Although he started as a spirit of honor, Dathon had lived too long as a mortal. He backed into the shadows leaving the mage sleeping. He watched as a bald man approached the mage. The man's eyes shined in the light of the mage's glowstone. Dathon found it odd the newcomer carried no stone of his own or a torch. Dathon took a step further, and his foot dragged on a pebble. The man's head jerked to look in his direction. He held still.

"Who goes there?" the bald man asked. Could he not see? Dathon held very still just on the edge of the light almost in the darkness. The man looked almost right at him…the eyes glowing. He stood and brought his hand to a sword at his side. The man wore no armor, but Dathon could tell by his stance he was a warrior. "Is there someone there?" the man asked again. Dathon carefully took another step into the dark. The man's face changed to a look of shock, and he withdrew his sword. The man looked right at Dathon. "Who are you? What have you done to this man?" The mage began to stir from his slumber as the man took a step towards him. "I will not ask again…who are you?" The sword was now unsheathed.

"I have not harmed him," Dathon answered now fully in the darkness hoping the man could not see him, but the man stepped closer to him raising his sword. Dathon unsheathed his own. How could this man see him?

"Answer my question," the bald man said sternly. "Who are you and how did you get here?"

"I assure you things are not what they appear to be," Dathon replied taking a step back. How was it possible this man could see in the dark? The glowing eyes…was that how he could see? Some form of new magic in the world? He heard more steps coming and voices. This was not a fight he wanted nor was he sure he could win. Too much was at stake. "Trust me when I say there are things here you do not comprehend."

"By Andraste's tits you have that right," the man answered advancing cautiously. Dathon could see this man was not only a warrior, but experienced. Behind the man by the mage a dwarf and another man emerged from the darkness. They each carried glowing stones like the mage's. They looked at their companion with quizzical expressions on their faces. "Tell me what I want to know!"

"Who are you talking to, Reginald?" the dwarf asked the bald man.

Dathon smiled and raised his hands before his chest. A glowing light emanated from his hands casting a pall of light in the tunnel. The bald man's eyes widened as did the others behind him now seeing Dathon for the first time. "Perhaps at another time." He finished his spell and vanished from the tunnel leaving the mortals confused.

* * *

Lillith paced the throne room. Dathon stood at the other end of the oval table with his hands behind his back. She was disturbed by his report of what had happened with the mortals in the tunnel. Worse, he had used magic to return to the castle. The tear in the veil was already fragile. Any use of magic could rip it apart irreparably. And worse was the news of the somniari. A dreamwalker capable of bending the Fade to his will. If the veil were to rip again…

"The bald one called Reginald I think can see in the dark. I do not know how it happened that he can do this, but this might just be the answer we have been looking for," Dathon said to her.

"And how is that an answer?" she asked. First the avalanche exposes the castle for the first time in who knew how many years and now these mortals finding the sealed passages to their location. She certainly had lost track of how much time they had lived in this realm. Added that Dathon had been discovered would only make the mortals more curious and anxious to find them. "I see no advantages here, Dathon."

"But he can see where we cannot," Dathon replied. "The demon we seek lurks in the darkness. We cannot search for it without using light. That is the disadvantage we have living in these mortal bodies. But this man, Lillith, I swear saw me in the dark as if I had been standing in the light." He unclasped his hands and walked the length of the table causing her to stop pacing and look directly at him. "Think of it…he can find the creature and destroy it. That is something we have been unable to do all of these years."

"He is also a mortal, and they are all weak," she stated coldly. "The creature will bind him to its will just like it did all of the others no matter the abilities you say this man possesses."

"But if I am with him I can prevent that."

"You mean we should expose ourselves to an alliance? Don't be absurd!"

Dathon slammed his fist on the table startling the guardian. He looked at her with a hard expression…one he had never used with her before. She felt unnerved. "You are being foolish, Lillith! This is finally the opportunity to end the torment we have hunted for so long. I am tired of this world. Tired of living in an isolation hunting an enemy we cannot find." His face softened. "Aren't you tired of living here too? Don't you miss the sweet music of the Fade? That is where we belong, Lillith. Not here in these mortal shells."

She looked away from him and at the floor. "Is this existence so bad?" she whispered.

His hand touched her face and she lifted her head to look into his eyes. "It is not bad," he replied. "But it is also not ours nor was it ever. To stay here longer than our mandate would make us no better than the demons we have hunted."

She nodded to him. "Very well…I will consider your proposal." He turned and left the room leaving her alone. She was once a spirit of compassion, and it was her duty to protect the mortals of this realm from the horrors the demons would unleash here. It was her duty to spare them the sadness and suffering. By protecting them she would ease their pain. She looked to where Dathon had left the room .It was a duty that would never end as long as there were those who were weak and those who were strong. Dathon was wrong in thinking that killing a single demon would absolve them of their duty and allow them to return home.


	8. Chapter 8

"I know what I saw," Reginald protested. "Whether the dark object and the man were the same I do not know, but it was there before any of you came…and before the man appeared in the shadows." He was sitting at the table near the camp fire. Madelyn sat beside him. Her fingers glowed a light blue as she used her healing magic to finish mending his shoulder. The injury had been severe enough it required several of these sessions to properly heal. Madelyn hoped this was the last treatment.

"Spirit wisps are not dark," Octavius countered. "They appear as little glowing lights and flitter about without instructions." The mage paced just near the edge of the light. Madelyn was not sure why but the man was keeping his distance from the rest of them and especially Elaina. "What you think you saw was not a spirit."

"He can see some things we cannot, Octavius. After that man disappeared the way he did I am inclined to believe Reginald saw something up there." Jacen ran his fingers through his red hair. "And the armor the man wore was unlike any style I have ever heard of. None of the descriptions I have read match what he was wearing."

Madelyn finished with the spell in the Templar's shoulder. He moved it around in small circles and smiled at her. She looked up at the others. "Could he have been an arcane warrior? I read in the Circle library a book that mentioned an ancient order of mages who channeled their magic into the martial arts."

"He could have been," Jacen replied. "My friend, the one who hired us for this expedition, found the spirit of one in a phylactery deep in some ruins in the Brecilian Forest. He described the memories of this warrior before it passed to oblivion." He walked to a stump near the fire and sat. "The teyrn wrote this down in his journal which I was privy to read before we came here."

"Myths and fairytales," scoffed Octavius. "Phylacteries don't hold spirits. They hold blood which is used to track mages should they ever escape the Circle. Isn't that right, Templar?" His voice verged on the edge of anger as he spoke to Reginald.

"Phylacteries have been used in the past to hold more than just blood," Madelyn countered. Reginald sat silent next to her. "Especially during the height of the Tevinter Imperium some mages were said to have parceled part of their essence into a phylactery so should they die a part of them still lived and could be revived. Legend says the Witch of the Wilds does the same which is why she has lived for so long."

"Poppycock!" Octavius replied. "That's still just ramblings of myths and legends. None of that is possible. We know more about magic now than ever before." He thrust his hands in the air. He turned his attention to Madelyn. Something in his expression unnerved her. "Perhaps when you were in the Circle you should have studied more on magic and less in stories and looking pretty. Then you might be capable of casting a simple fireball spell."

Madelyn's jaw dropped in shock as Reginald stood up knocking his chair over. His hand was resting on the hilt of his sword. "You had best apologize to the lady now before I remove that tongue of yours."

Jacen looked from the Templar to the mage. Octavius took a step back with a look of fear in his face mixed with anger. Madelyn placed her hand on Reginald's arm trying to relax him, but the touch had no effect. The sword's blade began sliding slowly out of the sheath at his waist. A silence followed for what seemed an eternity.

"I see the Templar finally acts against the mage," Octavius said. Madelyn closed her eyes afraid of her lover's reaction. "You are all the same."

In less time than it took for her to take a breath Madelyn watched Reginald close the gap between himself and the other mage. The sword was pointed at the man's throat. Jacen had fallen off his stump in shock. Octavius' arms hung at his sides as pure fear crossed his face. She saw Reginald cock his head to the side as he always did when he felt he had the upper hand. It was a sign to her that blood would not be shed, but Reginald would ensure the mage would also never speak that way to her again.

"Care to actually think now about what you just said?" Reginald asked the man. He cocked his head to the other side and leaned in closer…the blade unmoving. A few drops of liquid splashed on the floor as the mage pissed himself. "Most intelligent people I know have learned to think before they speak."

Octavius' eyes looked to her, but the rest of his head and body stayed rigidly still. "I…apologize," he said with an audible gulp. As he did his Adam's apple moved dangerously close to the blade. "I won't say anything like that to you again. I beg your forgiveness."

"You are forgiven," she replied.

With that Reginald lowered the blade and retreated back to his chair. Once he sat down the mage ran off into the darkness. Madelyn noticed Reginald kept a look off into the distance probably watching where the other had run to. Jacen righted himself as Dorak approached with several plates filled with the evening supper. He looked at the shocked face of Jacen to the distracted look of Reginald.

"What did I just miss?" he asked as he set the plates on the table.

* * *

Jessia emerged from her tent and pushed down on the daggers slung to her hips. She wore leather armor on her upper body leaving her arms bare. He legs were covered in similar leather with steel guards sewn into the thigh and shin areas. The outside of her forearms were covered by steel guards that ran along to segmented fingers. Dorak had left with Jacen, Reginald, Octavius, and Elaina after they had all broken their fast. The news of someone or something meeting the men in the tunnel the day before had not set well with her. She was prepared should that revelation manifest itself down near their camp. She knew next to nothing about Kalindra's abilities and the mage claimed to lack much skill with magic. She felt their defense was left to her.

To her left Madelyn stepped from the tent she shared with the Templar. Jessia's eyes widened at the way the woman was dressed. Her top covered her arms all the way to the wrists. However, on her torso it hugged her features tightly and stopped just below her breasts. Her skirt started at her waistline just below her naval and ran to the floor. The whole outfit left the woman's midriff exposed. Jessia was impressed with the woman's physique even if she wasn't with her apparel. Madelyn was more toned and fit than she was. The mage also had a dagger on her left hip and a straight simple staff the same length as a longsword gripped by her right hand. The woman's long black hair was tied back into a ponytail. She smiled at Jessia when the women's eyes met.

"Expecting trouble?" Madelyn asked her as she pointed to Jessia's leathers.

"One can never assume," Jessia replied. "Aren't you?" She ran her fingers along her own stomach indicating the lack of cover on Madelyn's attire.

The mage's eyes widened and she looked down. "Huh? Oh…this? I've always worn outfits like this when I spar. I figured it would do for real fighting as much as anything else. Plus…I'm used to it."

"Makes sense I guess," Jessia replied shrugging her shoulders. She walked to the table and sat at one of the chairs. Madelyn took a seat opposite of her. She had to admit the mage was the most strikingly beautiful woman she had seen, and the robes she wore now added to her allure. If she were inclined and not married to Dorak Jessia could find herself very intrigued with the mage sexually. The mage poured each of them a glass of wine from the bottle still on the table. "How did you and Reginald meet, Madelyn?"

"He was a Templar at the Kirkwall Circle and I lived there since I was a young girl."

"I mean why him? What was the spark that brought you two together? It's not often a mage and a Templar are lovers."

Madelyn leaned forward in her chair with both of her hands wrapped around the base of her wine goblet. "I guess I have always found him handsome," she began, "even before he lost his eyesight. He used to have these emerald colored eyes. And he was always nice to me." She took a sip and looked off into the darkness as if she were picturing the past in her mind. "After the accident he was more constrained. We hadn't talked for a few years. Other mages were afraid of him once they saw how his eyes changed. But I still remember how he looked with those green eyes. One day I worked up the nerve to talk to him. He hadn't really changed. We kept our affair after that a secret." She took another sip.

Jessia brought her wine glass to her mouth. "Worked up the nerve? I have to ask…just how old are you?" she said and took a drink.

"I'm forty-two," Madelyn replied. Jessia almost dropped the goblet. "Why do you ask?"

"You're forty-two years old?" Both women turned to see Kalindra standing just outside her tent. She was dressed in simple leathers with her right arm bare. Her left arm had a thicker leather guard along the inside of her forearm, and in her left hand she held a bow. On her back they could see the fletchings of arrows.

"You have to be lying…or is there some sort of magic involved?" Jessia asked Madelyn.

"No magic. Don't you believe I am forty-two? I don't look older…do I?" she asked.

"You look like a teenager," Kalindra replied. She sat at the table and looked at the mage. "You have no wrinkles at all. Your body is definitely not that of an older woman. You can't be that old."

"I agree with her," Jessia added. "I'm thirty-three and I look like an old hag next to you."

"You do not look like an old hag," Madelyn protested. "You are both very beautiful women."

Kalindra shook her head and placed a hand on her belly. "You hear that little one? In fourteen years I better look as good as her or you will never hear the end of it from me." They all laughed sharing the levity of the moment. It was a nice change from the tensions the night before…or what they each feared could come.

* * *

Standing on a parapet overlooking the mountainside an elderly elven mage overlooked the valley below the castle. She wore ornate blue robes. Yellow and orange flames adorned the sleeves and bottom near her feet. On her head she wore nothing to cover the silvery long hair that blew in the wind. She raised her arms pointing her hands to the snow covered smaller hill below. The air around her fingers sparked with a charge of electricity. Her lips moved without sound. Her eyes closed. The charge grew in intensity as she paid lip service to the spell. Suddenly her eyes shot open wide and arcs of lightning sprouted from her fingertips to clash with the snow below. The avalanche was not as large as the previous one, but the snow collapsed falling across the small hill burying it. The lightning stopped. She lowered her hands. The snow cover was thick now where she could no longer see the difference from the mountain to the hill…it was all now one singular slope of snow.

"Was that necessary?" a voice said behind the woman. She did not turn around. "You have trapped the mortals in the old city."

"Better to trap them inside than to let the demon loose upon the world," she replied. "You of all people, Dathon, should realize this."

He walked up next to her and looked down below. "You consider this justice? Does Lillith consider this compassion? I do not find it honorable. The sacrificing of innocents is not necessary."

"Justice is to make the beast pay for its crimes against this world. No price is too large." The woman looked at Dathon. "And yes…Lillith considers this compassionate. Which is more palpable? The compassion to save a few so that many may suffer? Or to sacrifice the few so that the well-being of many are secured? Which to you is the honorable choice?"

"The honorable choice," he said looking at the old mage "is to kill the creature and save them all."

"What you seek is not possible."

"There is one amongst them that can help us slay the beast."

"You speak of the one that can see in the dark? Or the other one?"

"The one that sees in the dark can help us find the beast," Dathon replied. He looked down at the snow covered hill below. "But the other one can help us kill it…if she can realize her full potential."

"What you are thinking would require a sacrifice itself," the mage stated.

"I know. That sacrifice is mine to make."

"That also may not be possible."

"I have to try."

"Because it is the honorable thing to do?" the mage asked. Dathon simply nodded.

* * *

It was trapped! It had found a way to freedom. It had found a way into the world beyond the prison and away from the hunters. Then the barricade fell. They had to have done this. The hunters knew where it was. It panicked. It floated towards the creatures by the fire. It stayed just in the shadows. They were giggling and laughing. This was happiness…not pleasure. It was not satisfied. It left them to search the other tunnels. It was hungry. The dreamwalker had not sated a long thirst and hunger with its visions with the woman. Floating amongst the old city it found no other living creatures to feed upon. It needed the pleasure and pain to grow stronger. It floated down the tunnel to the old barricade. In and out of the rocks it searched for a weakness…a way to escape. Nothing! It was trapped. It needed to find the dreamer again. But that meant heading back to the upper prison. There was no choice. It must find the dreamwalker and make it produce the pleasure and pain. It must for it was hungry and needed to feed.

* * *

The three women sat at the table gossiping and laughing oblivious to the small avalanche outside that had blocked the entrance once again. Nor were they aware of Dathon watching them until he stepped from the shadows into the light from the fire. As soon as he emerged they stopped their revelry. Each stood from their seat and braced for battle. Jessia had both daggers in her hands, Madelyn with her staff, and Kalindra nocked an arrow. Dathon held his hands before him…weaponless.

"Please…I mean none of you any harm," he pleaded.

"Who are you?" Jessia demanded.

"I am called Dathon…and I am here to warn you that you are all in grave danger."

"Why should we trust you? A man who can appear and disappear on a whim?" Madelyn asked.

"I apologize for that," he answered. "If you would please put away your weapons? I am unarmed and wish only to warn you of the danger."

"Not until you tell us what this danger is beyond that which you pose," Kalindra added pulling back on the bowstring.

Dathon sighed and relaxed his arms letting them hang at his side. "Very well. There is a demon loose in these ruins. A demon that feeds on the pain and terror of mortals. Now if that is enough to relax your weapons I can go into greater details." Each woman relaxed a bit, but none put their weapons away. None of them trusted the man standing before them. He walked to the vacant chair at the table and sat placing his hands on the table. "Very well," he continued "long ago the Tevinter Imperium besieged this city and the castle above. They unleashed their magics upon the people which tore the veil to the Fade. Demons came through the tear rampaging and killing the citizens. The massacre was…complete." He looked up at the three women. "I along with eleven others came through the veil to fight the demons in this world and seal the breach. I found an elven man dying. I healed him and set him upon a Griffon to fly to other settlements to warn them of the Imperium's designs. Last I knew he was flying to Arlathan to warn them."

"You are saying this happened before the fall of Arlathan?" Kalindra asked. Her tension on the bowstring eased. "That was thousands of years ago."

"Arlathan…fell? Thousands?" Dathon looked down at the table. "Then we have indeed been here much longer than I thought. And the danger is that much greater."

"So what are you really? A demon yourself? A spirit?" Madelyn asked.

"I am…or I was…a spirit of honor," Dathon replied. "To fight the demons in this realm we took over the bodies of some of the recently dead. The bodies were healable but the souls of the people had moved beyond." He looked at Madelyn. "We hunted and killed all of the demons but one. To keep it trapped I sealed the door you opened. I destroyed the remnants of this city so that no one would be interested in finding what was here. Our leader, the guardian we call Lillith, brought down the snow from the heavens to cover the mountain and the castle. Hidden away we felt we had trapped the beast and ensured it could not escape to feed on mortals. We have hunted it ever since with no success." He looked at the others. "And now it seems even our plans to hide this place have failed. So now more than ever we must find the creature and destroy it before it can find its way to freedom."

"Your failure in hiding this place was you left behind a mystery that needed to be solved," Kalindra stated. "A great man and his friends found this place not more than a few years ago during the Blight. We were sent here to discover the secrets of this place. We wanted to find out what this place was and who had lived here. We wanted to discover its story." Dathon nodded with a grin.

"So this demon…if it poses such a great threat then this thing must be big," Jessia stated. She had sheathed her daggers and sat back at the table. Madelyn and Kalindra joined her as they faced the old spirit.

"Actually it is quite small," Dathon replied. "It's no larger than your fist. But sometimes the most powerful adversaries are also the smallest. It does not fight like a pride demon or is aggressive like a rage demon. It's more seductive like a desire demon." He looked at each woman as he spoke. "It especially has power when in the presence of a somniari."

"What's a somniari?" Jessia asked.

"A somniari is a mage who can mold the Fade to whatever they want it to be," Madelyn answered. "But they are very rare and often unstable both mentally and emotionally."

"You have one amongst you," Dathon said. The women looked at him and then to Madelyn. "Not her, but the other mage. The dark skinned one. I believe the demon may have already found him and has been in communication with him in his dreams. When I met the others the mage was sleeping…and dreaming…and I sensed a foreboding coming from him. I have sensed that feeling before many times while hunting the beast."

"The white orb!" Madelyn exclaimed. The others including Dathon gave her quizzical looks. "The one Reggie saw in the tunnel! He saw it white like light, but with his vision it was actually dark. He saw it!"

"You mean the one with the silver eyes? He can actually see in the dark?" Dathon asked. Madelyn nodded affirmation. "Then we must find your companions…and we must hurry. If your friend did indeed see the demon then the somniari might already be corrupted." He stood and turned towards the now open sealed door. "Come…with me…we must hurry!"

* * *

Octavius walked with the others through the tunnel mesmerized with the woman before him. In the lead was Reginald, but behind him were the dwarf and the academic. They posed no threat to his plan. Ever since they had left the camp Octavius was scheming. He wanted this woman alone. He imagined all the sordid things he wanted to with her and to her. He watched the sway of her thin hips, the slight bounce of her perfectly rounded breasts, and the glistening of her chocolate colored skin. His lust was so great he could taste her. The only scent around them was her perfume. The only obstacle was the Templar in the lead. He kept silent during the long trek through the tunnel. Past the bodies, up the landings, through the long tunnel, and up more landings. He was certain they would come to the castle courtyard soon. Then he would enact his plan. And he would have her alone to himself. No more dreams about this woman. Since the spirit had left him this woman encompassed his every desire. To hear her scream and moan as she did in his dreams was not enough. He wanted those to be real and soon they would be.

Ahead he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Just a few hundred yards. He kept his hands to his sides. She was directly before him. The Templar was the obstacle. This would be easy. Closer they came to the end. At fifty yards he silently spoke the incantation. He raised his left hand and pointed it at the back of the Templar. His eyes widened and lightning shot from his hand into the man's back. The metal armor increasing the charge incapacitating the Templar. He wanted to kill the man for what he was, but he did not have time. As the Templar fell the others looked at him in shock. He grabbed Elaina's arm and dragged her to the end of the tunnel and into the courtyard. She tried to resist but was not strong enough. The others, Dorak and Jacen, pursued him, but he had a plan. Once into the open and out of the tunnel he threw the woman to the ground. He spoke the incantation again…loudly this time pouring all of his mana into this one spell. Bringing both hands before him lightning struck the stone above the tunnel exit. Dorak and Jacen crouched as first small rocks and then larger stones fell from the ceiling. A cloud of dust and debris rose from the collapse, but Octavius fought the urge to cough from the mess collecting in his lungs. Lightning continued to arc from his fingers until he exhausted his mana and was satisfied the others could not reach him. He lowered his arms and turned to look at the woman. Shock written over her face.

"Now we are finally alone," he said with a wicked grin.

She looked at him in horror…and the small black orb next to his shoulder. It was the size of her fist and rotated clockwise. Light seamed to disappear into it.

* * *

The guardian stood next to the table with ten members of her council. They stopped their conversation about Dathon when a loud rumble from the courtyard outside interrupted them. The old elven mage ran to the window.

"The somniari has collapsed the tunnel with magic!"

"No…" Lillith began. Behind her in the air a hole began to open. There was nothing behind it, but through it they could see the landscape of the Fade. Demons waited on the other side…waited for the tear to widen. "We are too late…"

* * *

The three women followed Dathon through the tunnel. They could feel a rumble beneath their feet in the stone stopping them in their tracks. Dathon turned to face them. His face was awash in terror. "The veil…it's been ruptured…" his voice trailed off.


	9. Chapter 9

Her hip was bruised and hands scraped from when she was thrown to the stone walkway of the courtyard. Elaina's eyes widened as lightning sprang from the fingers of the mage she had once thought incapable of harming a small insect. Dust and debris formed a cloud filling her lungs with a foulness she had never experienced. She leaned up on her elbow coughing and trying to breathe. Soon the fog of dust was so thick she could not see the mage, but the sound of the stone collapsing in the tunnel was deafening. Time stood still as she struggled to see through the dust to see the carnage the mage had unleashed. Finally the cloud cleared and she saw him standing above her with a look that unsettled her. The stories from Jessia came to her mind as a sly grin crossed his face. Suddenly she knew the danger she was in as his intentions with her became clearer.

"Now we are finally alone," he said sending a chill down her spine. She was alone with him as was his intention. But this man had underestimated her resolve. He would never have her the way he envisioned. He stepped closer letting his hands wring with anticipation. "I am going to enjoy this." She allowed him to step closer pretending to cower from him. Acting hurt she lured him into relaxing his guard. "Ever since we first met I have dreamed of taking you," he said as he started to kneel next to her. "Ravaging your perfect body is all I have been able to think of these past few days."

Octavius was on one knee now hovering over her. His hands moved to untie the laces of her bodice. His eyes never meeting hers he reached towards her. He never saw her fist clench or the determination in her eyes as his fingers touched her breasts. With catlike speed she punched forward and into his manhood. The mage's eyes widened with shock and then he winced in pain. He pulled his hands to his groin and fell to his side on the ground. She leapt to her feet ignoring the pain from when he threw her.

"You will never have your desires with me," she said angrily. She pulled her leg back and with all her strength kicked him in the groin. The mage cried out in pain pulling into a fetal position beneath her. She spat on him and turned to look across the courtyard. She needed to get away before the crazed man recovered. She would not allow him to touch her again. Spying an open entrance into the castle she ran full sprint for the doorway never looking back.

* * *

Jacen waved his hand in front of his face trying to clear the dust and help his breathing. His mind reeled trying to understand what had just happened. Octavius had used magical lightning on Reginald and then collapsed the tunnel after he had ran away dragging Elaina with him. He took a mental check of his body. Except for some minor pains he was uninjured. The ground beneath him was grittier than before with the pebbles of the collapse strewn around him. His eyes stung with dust as he tried to see what had happened to the others. The glowstone cast an eerie glow in the tunnel. Ahead of him was Dorak performing the same mental checks he was. Beyond him half covered by stones was the Templar. Fortunately the man's face had turned to his direction allowing he man to breathe…if he was still even alive after the lightning attack by the mage.

"Are you alright, Dorak?" Jacen asked.

"Nothing permanent," the dwarf answered picking himself from the ground. He reached down with a hand in front of Reginald's mouth. "And he still breathes."

"Do you know what just happened?" Jacen picked himself from the ground and made his way to the glowstone lying on the ground nearby.

"The crazy mage went crazy is what happened," Dorak replied. He leaned back against the wall of the tunnel and ran the back of his hand across his forehead. The dust smeared as it mixed with sweat. "The boy's had intentions with the woman, but I never would have guessed he had the stones to actually do something about it."

"Intentions?"

Dorak looked at him. "Of course you wouldn't notice being engrossed with this place as you have been. I doubt even the woman had any idea. But that boy has been lusting after her since day one. Every morning he went to that door. Instead of trying to figure out how to open it he's been playing with himself."

Jacen shook his head as he walked over to Reginald. He began removing the stones covering the man's comatose body. What the dwarf was telling him shook Jacen to his core. He never realized what the mage had been doing. Dorak was correct that Jacen was intrigued with the ruins and even more once the door to this tunnel had been opened. The surprise appearance of Reginald and Madelyn had not registered as a threat in Jacen's perception. A Templar and a mage show up just as an avalanche sealed them in the ruins should have wakened Jacen to what was happening around him. Dorak silently joined him in moving the stones as Jacen's mind wandered. Neither of the Cousland men would have fallen prey to something like this. Granted their family had been betrayed and massacred by a family friend, but Jacen had only met the mage days before setting out for the site. There was no life-long connection to the man. He should have been more vigilant. The Templar and the mage had fortunately proven valuable, but the recent attack by Octavius caused him to question his ability as a leader. He shook his head to wave off the self doubt. Right now he needed to focus on what was happening and worry later about what he could have done differently when they survived this mess.

Reginald moaned as they removed the last stone and pulled him free of the rubble. The man had several cuts to his face and hands, and his neck was scorched near the armor. Had Jacen not seen the attack firsthand he would have thought Reginald had been burned by fire. The Templar's sword and shield were both gone probably buried under the rubble. His armor was pitted and dented from the impact of the collapsing stones and debris. Jacen was fairly certain both the right arm and right leg had been broken…the bones possibly pulverized. Once they had Reginald free from the cave-in both Jacen and Dorak leaned against the wall of the tunnel. Jacen was amazed the man had survived at all. As he looked at the man's countenance in the glow of the magical stone Jacen felt a wave of guilt pass through him. All of this was his fault.

* * *

Elaina ran down hallways and corridors passing room after room. She spared only glances into them noticing each had furnishings and a lived in feel which was a stark contrast to the ruins below. The farther into the heart of the castle she ran the more her vision blurred. She was fighting exhaustion, but she would not linger any length of time that would allow the mage to catch her. She was lost in the maze of hallways in this castle. But if she was lost that also meant the mage would have more difficulty finding her. She was not a fighter and the best offense she had was used back in the courtyard. Surprise was an ally in her escape and as much a dullard as she may think the mage to be she knew that trick would not work a second time.

She rounded a bend and stopped abruptly in the doorway of what looked like a throne room. Her eyes widened in amazement as she looked upon eleven men and women, both human and elven, kneeling on the floor. Each held their head down and hands clasped in front of their chests. They were chanting in a language she did not recognize. In front of them was a hole in the air. Through the hole she could see distorted buildings and trees. Horrific creatures clawed at the edges of the hole. She could distinguish a few of them like the purple skinned woman with a bad complexion and horns sprouting from each side of her head. One was tall and bulky with body like an ogre. Its face was featureless coming to a snout. Another looked like a man hooded in a blanket of fire. Her eyes widened in realization. The blurred vision was not from exhaustion, but the Fade leaking through a tear in the veil. She had read books and heard stories about the Fade and its manifestations. The creatures were demons trying to come through to this world from the Fade. They clawed and tore at the edges widening the opening. The eleven people in front of her kept with their chant. Waves of glowing energy flowed from their collective bodies into the hole. Each time a wave hit the opening it grew smaller. She was watching a war between these unknown people and the demons…those trying to seal the tear and those trying to rip it asunder. She watched in amazement for only a moment, but in that time she noticed the demons were winning the tug-of-war. They were able to widen the opening greater than the eleven could counter in their closing it. She heard footsteps in the distance and turned to continue her evasion of the crazed mage bent on raping her.

* * *

Kalindra dropped to her knees on the last landing before the tunnel leading to the castle. She was sweating profusely. She let her bow drop as she slumped against the wall trying to keep her eyes open. Jessia stopped near the edge of the landing and called for Madelyn and Dathon to wait. She ran back to the elven woman and placed her hand on the woman's forehead. She was feverish. Kalindra looked at her with fear etched across her face. Something was wrong. This woman was young and physically fit. Jessia could not understand what was happening to the woman. She knelt beside her and held her hand. It was cold and clammy. Madelyn and Dathon came up behind her, and Kalindra appeared concerned as they looked down at her.

"I had hoped I could avoid this," she stated looking at them. They shared puzzled looks with each other.

"Avoid what?" Jessia finally asked.

Kalindra placed her other hand on Jessia's. "I think there is something wrong with the baby," she replied. She looked down at her stomach as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I was told long ago that I was not capable of having a child. So Jacen and I had never concerned ourselves with trying to avoid having one." She looked back up at the others. "We really enjoyed ourselves…a lot. So when we found out I was pregnant it came as a complete surprise. We saw a person in Denerim who told me to never exert myself until after the baby was born. And now…" She looked at Madelyn. "Can you do something? With that magic of yours?"

Jessia looked up at the mage, but seeing the woman's heartbroken expression gave Jessia the answer. "I cannot," Madelyn replied as tears welled in her eyes. "I wish I could."

"But you can." The three women looked at Dathon. He looked at Madelyn. "You do have that ability."

"Not for what she is asking," Madelyn protested. "I wish I could. Maker, believe me I wish there was something I could do. But healing magic doesn't work quite that way. Some things are just beyond the ability of magic to heal." Kalindra was sobbing now holding her hand on her stomach.

"But you do have that gift," Dathon continued. He stepped closer to Madelyn and looked into her eyes. "You have a gift the likes of which none on this world have seen. It is why I sought you out."

"Sought her out?" Jessia asked.

"Yes," Dathon replied. He looked down at Jessia and Kalindra as he spoke. "Her gift to heal is one that is very rare. Earlier I heard the three of you talking about how young she looked for her age. Although she does not realize it her youthful appearance is because of her gift." He looked back at Madelyn. "You have always had this ability to heal others, correct?" She nodded at him. "You do not realize the power you possess because those who could teach you to use it do not exist. Even I cannot tell you how to harness that power, but I can sense it." He turned to look down the passage. Their gazes followed him. "Like the somniari a true healer is very rare. Even rarer is one who has been infused with the power to heal without thinking. They live almost immortal lives. The elves of Arlathan were such a people. They thought themselves immortal. In reality they were extremely gifted with this power to heal. Some channeled that power and learned to heal others." He turned to look at Madelyn again. "You are the first human, however, that I can see has this innate ability."

"I don't understand," Madelyn replied. "I have always been able to heal others, yes. But are you saying I can do more?"

Dathon stepped closer to her and held her hand. "I am saying you have the ability. There is no 'more' to it. You can heal any living thing. The veil to the Fade can be healed. While it is not alive it acts like a living thing. It undulates as if breathing. When it is torn it can be sealed. The result is not unlike a scar. As you know scars can be vulnerable and weak especially in the surrounding tissues. The veil is much the same way. It can be sealed, but it will always remain weak in that area. But a healer like yourself can heal the tear in the veil returning its original strength." He let go of her hand and walked to the edge of the landing to look down the tunnel again. "Long ago I told you the veil was torn and demons raged here killing everyone. Twelve of us were able to seal the breach, but since that time it has always been weak here. I can sense the tear has returned. The twelve of us cannot seal this breach." He turned back to look at the mage. "But where we cannot seal it…you can heal it ensuring the tragedy that happened here cannot happen again. But you must look deep inside yourself to find the power to do this. And it is that same power that can save this woman's child."

"Please!" Kalindra pleaded.

"But I do not know how nor have the time to learn this," Madelyn stated to Dathon.

"It is not something that can be taught," he said walking up to her. He stopped just in front of her and placed his hand flat against her chest. "It is something that you are born with. You must look deep inside yourself. Now sleep!" Madelyn slumped to the floor.

* * *

She was playing in the field with her friend. They had always played with each other. Their parents were neighbors, but today they were in the fields just outside the village. There was a tree on the hill nearby and they raced to it. He was faster than she was, and he got to the base of the old tree first.

"Ha ha, I win!" he shouted at her. "Girls can never run as fast as boys."

"Not true!" she shouted back.

He started to climb the tree as she ran towards him. "Is too," he replied. She watched him grab a branch then another. He was already about ten feet up when she finally got to the tree. "I bet you can't climb any better than you can run."

"I can climb just as well as you can. I bet I can climb even better," she answered grabbing the first branch.

She looked up and saw his foot slip. She watched in horror as he fell to the ground. She let go of her branch and ran next to him. His leg was broken and the bone was sticking out of his skin. Blood was everywhere. Their parents would never let them play with each other again after this. He was screaming in pain. She closed her eyes hoping nobody heard him. But this was something that could not be avoided. If only his leg was not broken. She opened her eyes when the boy stopped yelling in pain. He was looking at her in amazement. His leg was no longer broken…it was completely healed.

Her vision blurred and cleared. The surroundings were different. She was no longer a girl but a young woman. She was in the Circle in Kirkwall listening to the senior enchanter before her drone on about how to cast spells. A mage next to her, and elven boy named Steffan, cut his finger. He winced in pain. She closed her eyes and opened them when he gasped. He looked at her incredulously as the bleeding had stopped. She smiled as his pain changed to bewilderment and awe. The things around her changed again. The beast of a Templar was standing over her. His face wore the expression of satisfaction. The pain between her legs was excruciating. The man had taken her maidenhood. It didn't feel like the other women said it was supposed to feel. And she bled. He had that smug face watching her curl into a fetal position on the bed.

"You keep your mouth shut about this mage," he said, "and I promise I won't have them make you tranquil."

"Yes, serah," was all she could whimper. He turned to leave her alone naked on her bed. She closed her eyes wishing the pain to go away. Miraculously it did.

"Please save my baby!" she heard a woman scream. The landscape changed again and she was standing in that field from her childhood. The boy was sitting at the base of the tree looking at her, but she was a grown woman old enough to be this boy's grandmother.

"Aren't you going to save that woman's child?" the boy asked.

"I don't know how," she replied. "I wish I could."

"Isn't that how you fixed my leg?" he asked with a smile. "Isn't that just all it takes?" He stood and looked her in the eyes. "They took you away afterwards. Do you remember? The Templars came and took you away."

"I remember," she replied. "I lived in the Circle the rest of my life."

"But you ain't dead," the boy laughed. "You won't ever die I bet. You just wish for it and it happens."

"It's a bit more complicated than that," she said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Really? Then how did you fix my leg?"

"That was different…I didn't now what I was doing."

"And knowing makes it complicated?" the boy asked. "Seems to me maybe knowing how to do something ain't as good as just wishing for it."

"I didn't exactly 'wish' for your leg to heal," she replied.

"Ok…wrong word. But the idea is that you wanted it to happen…and it happened." The boy put his hands on his hips and laughed. "Maybe you just need to 'want' to save that woman's child."

"But I do want to save her child," she stated. "I really want to save her child."

"So quit wanting it…and just do it. Seems things were much simpler before they got complicated." He turned to leave her alone by the tree on the hill. "I know that girl that healed my leg could save that child." She watched him walk away and fade into nothing. She stood alone on the top of the hill by that old tree.

"Please help my child!"

Madelyn opened her eyes and looked around her. She was lying on the floor. She sat up and looked at Kalindra sobbing. She was asking for help as the desperation set in. Madelyn thought to her dream. Could it truly be that simple? To just want something to happen…for the child to heal? All of the teachings and years in the Circle and she was never able to heal anyone like she had that boy all those years ago. She wanted it to heal and it did. A realization struck her…she was using her knowledge of magic whenever she healed someone. But at the times she relied on her instinct the healing just happened without effort. She was thinking too much about healing…she just needed to want it for it to happen...to act on her instincts. She stood and walked to Kalindra. She knelt down next to her and placed her hand on Kalindra's stomach. The woman looked at her pleadingly. Madelyn took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She wanted this mother and child to live.

* * *

Jessia watched as the mage closed her eyes. The air around them took on a blue hue and the little loose hairs on Madelyn's head began to rise. Jessia blinked and looked closer. She realized the blue glow was coming from the mage. Not just the hands as she had seen before when the mage healed the others after the avalanche, but this time her whole body was glowing. Kalindra had stopped sobbing and looked at the former Crow with surprise. The elven woman smiled as the glow intensified. More hairs stood up on the mage's head. Jessia breathed deeply. The air seemed cleaner…easier to breathe. She felt freshly awake and refreshed. Everything around them was cast in shades of blue as the mage grimaced. Beads of sweat formed at the mage's temples. Jessia looked at her hands. The wrinkles that had begun a few years before faded before her eyes. She reached up to the corners of her eyes…to the wrinkles her husband called 'laugh lines.' Her skin was smooth. Her breathing became even easier and she wanted to suddenly run for miles. She looked back at the elven woman. Her eyes were closed, but the blue glow was almost white near her stomach and the mage's hand. Was this the hidden power the spirit mentioned lying inside this mage? Madelyn opened her eyes and the glow diminished. She looked even younger than she had before. Kalindra opened her eyes as well and looked at the mage. Madelyn smiled and stood up.

"You are now ready," Dathon said causing the three women to look at him. "I sense the mother and child are well. You have more power to you than I imagined, Madelyn Tremere."

"How did you know?" Jessia asked the warrior spirit. "How did you know she could find it?"

"Because she needed to learn…to _unlearn_," he replied. Madelyn laughed beside him. "This amuses you?"

"Reginald was always getting asked how he could be such a good mage tracker being blind." She smiled and retied her ponytail. "He used to tell them 'One does not have to see…to _see_.'"


	10. Chapter 10

Octavius tried to sit up. The taste of bile was strong in his mouth. He used what little mana he had left and concentrated on what small amount of healing magic he knew. The woman had crushed both his testicles with her kick. If ever he had aspirations of fathering children her attack had rendered those dreams moot. The magic worked little to quell his pain, but something beside him urged him onward. He stood up woozy from the injury, but his desire was only heightened. He would make the woman pay for her impertinence. His manhood would be his spear of pain as he would make her scream to stop, but that would only make him penetrate her more.

He took one wobbly step and then another. Through tear filled eyes he had watched Elaina run to the far end of the courtyard. He knew where she ran in her escape. Foolish woman…they were alone now here on the mountaintop. She could hide, but not forever. He would find her. Another wobbly step. The pain was lessening. A dark cloud covered his mind as he envisioned her under him and before him. The look upon her face as he entered her again and again in places he knew he would enjoy but she would not. His next step was sturdier. Driven by his lust he strode forward.

Just over Octavius' shoulder the black orb spun faster. He was oblivious to the demon's delights as it whispered into his ear. Its wants and needs became his own. After finding the mage again it had determined him to be its best hope of growing in strength. It had almost total control over him now. His lustful dreams had made this last part easy. However, the reaction of the woman came as a surprise not only to the mage but also the demon. Females of the species it thought weaker and more malleable. But the three back in the old city and this one had proven the demon wrong. They were every bit as strong willed as the males, but the mage was the dreamer it needed. Yes the man was injured, but with continued submission he would forget those pains. It first needed him to find the woman. Then the pain would be doubled although the man would not realize it at first. It was not strong enough to be a lasting source to feed its hunger, but in time that could change or it could escape this prison and find another.

* * *

The spirit looked around the room it found itself in. Just before it was wandering the fade worrying about Octavius' state of mind, and now found itself in some sort of library. It loved him despite the lack of reciprocation. He knew the spirit lived in his dreamworld of the Fade. It found him long ago and loved him. Loved him enough to save him from a demon and grant him his every desire while he slept. It should not have argued with him, but it wanted him to realize that not all things were acceptable…some behaviors were not loving at all.

It reached a hand to one of the books. It stopped short for the hand was feminine. It brought the hand back to its face. Soft skin…pouty lips…it brought the other hand up to its face and began feeling its body. Long slender neck with soft hair to its shoulders. And breasts…it searched for a looking glass. Around the corner from the bookcase was a tall one. It stood before the mirror and gazed at its form. She was a woman much like she had been in Octavius' dreams. As a spirit it was neither male nor female, but it had taken the form of women because that was his desire. Looking at herself now she bore no resemblance to any woman she had been before. Her hair was dark…almost black. Her eyes were a light bright blue that stood in stark contrast to her hair. Her skin was pale and her form not much unlike the woman Elaina she had been many times lately for the mage. The dress she wore had a plunging neckline and fit her form tightly, but none of her skin below her neckline was revealed.

She stood looking at herself in confusion. Where was she? Was this his dream? It did not feel the same as before. She did not look the same as before. She stepped back from the mirror and looked at the room around her. This was a library, but it did not look like the Fade. She walked back to the book she almost touched. Cautiously she reached her hand forward. The binding was old and fragile. Part of the outer layer crumbled with her touch falling to dust on the shelf beneath it. She pulled the book from the shelf and held it on her palm before her. With her other hand she held the tome before her palmed above and below and closed her eyes. This felt like the Fade and yet it did not. Something was strange which confused her even more. If this was the mortal realm then she should not be here nor had she ever had a desire to be here.

Her mandate…her very essence was to love all things. Some beings she loved more than others…like Octavius. He was not the first and she knew he would not be the last. He was the most troubled, however, and she felt the impulse to help and guide him since their first meeting in the Fade. In many ways he was a child trapped in the body of an adult. Shunned and misunderstood in one world but ruler and all powerful in another. The dichotomy was staggering even for her to comprehend. At times he was calm and collected knowing all he wanted and how to achieve his desires, and at other times timid and meek without the faintest inkling of who or what he was. He was an enigma to those around him, but she understood him…because she alone loved him. Their argument and separation gave her an anxiousness that had yet to dissipate.

She opened her eyes and looked at the book in her hands. She knew she was in the world of the mortals. Sighing deeply she placed the book back on the shelf. There was only one explanation of how she was here. The veil between worlds had been torn, and she had been unwittingly pulled through it. She hoped Octavius was not the one responsible for this intrusion between worlds, but since that time in his dream when she had chastised him and left…she was not certain. There was a door to her left at the other end of the room. She turned and started walking towards it. Her answers lay beyond the confines of this chamber.

* * *

Elaina kept running. She was tiring and she knew it. The halls and rooms of the castle were a maze unlike any she could imagine. How the people who had once lived here found their way she could not comprehend. She had run up one staircase and then down two others. She was lost with no sense of which level she was on for certain and no idea how to leave. If the mage did happen to find her it would be because they stumbled into one another. And that black object above him…she tried to think through all the knowledge she possessed to determine what it was, but nothing she had learned helped her to find the answer. Her first thought was the mage had summoned a demon, but demons in the lore she had access to describe them as horrendous creatures like those she saw trying to come through the tear in the veil. There were also scribes who mentioned spirits conjured into this world, but those were described as small and light. While the thing was small it definitely was not light.

She rounded yet another corner and stopped. Ahead of her was a dead end. To the right were lined bookcases twelve across. To the left were several tables. A library? But this hallway had not entered into a normal shaped room as she would have anticipated. Instead the hallway seemed to merge with the room. She took a few hesitant steps forward. Perhaps the Fade was changing the world around her? She cursed herself for not learning more about the Fade in her studies. Because she was not a mage she felt the need unwarranted. Why would she ever need to know all the intimate details of a realm she hardly knew nor would she ever see? Instead she had focused what small magic-related knowledge she had on those things that had manifested themselves into this world. Something tangible at least from her perspective. She reached the end of one of the table and touched it. The wood felt real to her. She shook her head in confusion. Had this been by design? It was not common amongst any architecture she had seen or read about.

"There you are!" She turned at the sound of the voice. Behind her was Octavius. He was standing where the doorway should have been. His arms were crossed, and the look on his face sent a shiver along her spine. The black thing was also there spinning above his left shoulder next to his ear. She stepped back and leaned onto the table placing her hands upon it searching for anything she could use as a weapon. In all of her running through the castle she had not come across an armory.

"You can run but you cannot hide." He stepped towards her menacingly. "Now where were we before when you decided to be rude?" A sly grin crossed his face. He pointed a finger at her. She noticed his fingernails were long and pointed. "We can't have that happening again."

He looked down and with a quick move he shoved the nail of his index finger into the palm of his other hand. She watched blood drip to the floor by his feet. A lump caught in her throat as what little she knew of magic crept into her thoughts…especially blood magic. He tilted his head to look sideways at her. He lifted his bloody finger and pointed it again at her. Her entire body froze as if held in a vice. The black orb was spinning faster now. He stepped closer until he was right in front of her. Her body was leaning back against the table and legs slightly widened. He was standing between her legs and she could feel the stiffness of his aroused member through their clothing. His breath was foul and he stunk of sweat. Trying with all her will she could not move. He reached up with his bloody right hand and opened her mouth. He leaned forward with his tongue lashing about his lips. She tried to will her eyes shut, but even that was denied her. She felt his tongue slide into her mouth.

"Octavius! Stop!" a woman shouted behind the mage. His tongue left her mouth. She wanted to wretch. He turned away from her and she looked to see a woman standing where he had been before with her hands on her hips. She was pale skinned with shoulder length black hair and bright bluish eyes. Elaina did not recognize the woman or understand how she could be in the castle. She was not one of the eleven she had seen fighting the demons near the tear and the rest of the castle was deserted. The mage had collapsed the tunnel and the only way to or from the mountaintop.

"Just who are you?" he snarled at the stranger.

"The one who loves you," the woman replied.

"Only one I need love from is me," he replied and started walking to the other woman. Elaina wanted to scream, but the mage's spell still held her motionless. "You are an intruder who is not welcome here."

"Octavius…what has happened to you? Don't you recognize me at all?" The woman appeared to be extremely perplexed. Elaina wasn't certain who this woman was who claimed to know the mage, but regardless she desperately wanted to warn her about him. She wanted to cry for help to anyone else who could possibly exist in the castle.

"I don't know you nor do I care to," the man yelled. "And as you can see I have a friend here who was going to share a very special moment with me that you just interrupted." He raised his bloody finger at the woman. "It's time for you to leave."

The woman's shoulders slumped and her arms fell to her side. She looked longingly at the mage. "No…it is you who must leave." She looked up at the ceiling and then back at the mage as she brought her hands before her chest. "Octavius…it is time for you to sleep." She lowered her head and arms…and the mage slumped to the floor.

* * *

Dathon ran through the tunnel ahead of the three women behind them. Surprisingly Jessia felt no exhaustion as they ran. She figured it was a nice benefit from the mage's healing spell earlier at the landing. Madelyn was ahead with Dathon, and Jessia was certain the woman had a glow around her body that was not there before. Perhaps it was the new power the mage had found within herself, perhaps it was a side effect of the healing magic, or perhaps it was simply Jessia's imagination playing tricks with her mind as they ran in the darkness. She figured soon they would reach the end of the tunnel and hopefully into the castle. With the snow now gone from the avalanche and the castle exposed Jessia was looking forward to finally seeing daylight. She stopped when the woman screamed ahead of her.

"Reggie!" Madelyn cried out.

Jessia caught up to see carnage in the tunnel. Blocking the exit was a pile of stones. Her mind raced with what could have happened. She saw Jacen sitting against the tunnel wall with Dorak beside him. Both were covered in dust with streaks where they had wiped their hands across their sweaty brows. Both men were unconscious and covered with cuts and bruises. The air was thicker here and she found breathing difficult. She rushed to Dorak's side and knelt beside him. He breathing was labored, and she placed her hand on his cheek. He slowly opened his eyes and meekly smiled at her. She placed her forehead against his thankful he was alive. Sobbing behind her caused her to look and see the mage kneeling over what looked like the crumpled body of Reginald lying on his side. His armor was dented and mangled. She closed her eyes knowing the body within was most likely just as mangled.

"He took the brunt of the attack," Dorak coughed.

"What attack?" Dathon asked. He was standing by the boulders examining the cave-in.

"From Octavius," Jacen replied. Jessie looked over to see Kalindra ministering to him as she was to Dorak. "The mage used magical lightning to attack Reginald from behind. In the confusion he grabbed Elaina and ran out into the castle courtyard. And then he collapsed the tunnel." Jessia saw Madelyn crying over Reginald's body.

"We dug him out of the rubble." Dorak coughed again. "He was almost buried. He was still breathing when we pulled him out."

"Is he alive?" Jessia asked. Madelyn nodded but did not look in her direction. "At least that is some good news."

"Help me get this armor off him," Madelyn said to anyone listening.

"The armor is probably the only thing holding him together," Dathon stated not turning to look at any of them. His attention was fixed on the boulders blocking the exit. "I would not suggest removing it."

"I have to agree with the stranger," Dorak stated. "And as much as I would like to know what he is doing here with you and why you are all here…right now I am willing to forgo those questions and just say I am glad to see you and that you are all safe." He looked up into Jessia's eyes. "Especially you." She gave him a short kiss.

"I said get the armor off him!" Madelyn screamed. She did not look at them, but the force in her voice was enough that both Jessia and Kalindra moved towards the Templar. The mage kneeled back onto her heels and held her hands before her as the women turned the man onto his back and unbuckled the straps to the his armor. They then removed it from his mangled body. He softly groaned as they exposed his bloody and broken body.

"You're going to kill him…" Jacen began to protest and stopped as a blue glow emanated from Madelyn and enveloped the Templar. His eyes widened as he looked over to Dorak. The dwarf was just as stunned as he was. Jessia and Kalindra stepped back from the mage kneeling by the Templar. Her eyes were closed and the glow intensified illuminating the tunnel around them. Jessia noticed Dathon never watched any of the events unfolding behind him. Instead he looked at the barricade with his arms clasped behind his back. Her eyes began to widen as she saw the man's twisted and crumpled body visibly mend itself. Although the men would not understand what was happening, she watched in delight as the mage's power grew as she tried to save the life of the man she loved. His breathing improved as she watched his chest move up and down with each breath. She, as well as Kalindra, knew that removing the mangled armor before Madelyn healed him was essential. As damaged as it was the healing could have been halted or detrimental with him still inside it. Soon he opened his silver eyes and looked up at the mage. This time despite what Jessia was sure increased exertion Madelyn shed not a single drop of perspiration.

"W-what h-happened?" Reginald began to ask. His was voice barely a whisper.

Jessia placed a hand on his shoulder. "Shhhh…just rest for a moment. She is not finished."


	11. Chapter 11

Octavius looked at the world around him. In his mind at one moment he was standing in a library with Elaina under his control, and now he found himself in the middle of an apple orchard. As he struggled with the surprising turn of events he examined the world around him. Rows upon rows of trees lined perfectly each with bright red apples ready for harvesting. Songbirds filled the air with sweet music to match the smell of fresh apples. The grass was green and soft beneath his feet cushioning each step as he explored his new surroundings. The sun shone brightly through the trees casting rays brightly on the ground. All was calm and serene. His obsession with Elaina subsided in this world as he stepped towards one of the trees and plucked an apple from its branch. He rubbed the fruit along the sleeve of his robe and took a bite. The juice filled his mouth overloading his taste buds with its sweet nectar. The mage closed his eyes as a sense of profound serenity swept over and through him. He swallowed the bite of fruit and opened his eyes. Before him in the tree was a black bird. It looked like a hummingbird with wings fluttering so fast he could barely see them. He cocked his head in confusion. To his knowledge this species of bird was reputed to be full of color, but this particular bird was completely black. He watched it fly from branch to branch. It never flew far away, and each time he tried to approach it the bird stayed just out of his reach.

"This is such a pretty place," a woman said behind him. He turned to see the woman who had intruded upon his interlude with Elaina. She was standing some twenty feet away. However this time his anger escaped him. He could not place where he knew this woman standing now in this orchard or how she could be here with him. "It is much better than the place we just came from, is it not?"

"I am afraid I do not know who you are," he replied. "But this is a nice place."

"Of course you know me, Octavius. You have always known me." She stepped towards him. Her first step she morphed from the pale skinned woman with dark hair to the apprentice he first loved when he first discovered his desire for women. Young and lithe with red hair in a ponytail; her was face covered in freckles. Another step and she changed into another woman he had desired. Each step the woman took closer to him she changed into the appearance of another woman who held his heart through his life. Her final step she was Elaina…the woman he had just rendered helpless in the library. Now instead of hatred and anger her expression was kind. Her eyes sparkled and skin glistened in the sunlight. "I am the one who has always been with you," she spoke and placed her hand on his cheek.

All of his desire to hurt this woman or cause her pain was washed away with her touch. "I have missed you," he replied closing his eyes. A weight lifted from his chest and all feeling of malice towards any being left him.

"He is mine! You cannot have him!" He turned from the woman before him to look upon the source of the voice. It was filled with anger and resentment…with malice. He saw the hummingbird black and fuming facing him. "He is mine!" it said.

* * *

Elaina felt her body come back under her control. The mage was lying face down on the floor of the library. The strange woman was now kneeling beside him with her hand upon his shoulder, and she was whispering something to the brute. Elaina looked to the books beside her and spied a large and weighty tome. She reached for the book and walked towards the beast lying on the floor. She raised the book above her intent on slamming it into the mages head with all her strength. She rose up on her toes for extra force when he woman below her looked into her eyes.

"Please don't," the woman pleaded. "He is not in full control of himself."

"He seemed pretty in control of himself when he seized me with the intention of raping me," Elaina replied angrily. She still held the book high above her head.

"There is a demon present that is controlling him. Believe me he would never harm you," the woman stated. A tear trailed down her cheek. Elaina relaxed her stance to stand flat footed, but the book remained high above her head. "What you have seen of him today…it is not really him. The demon has control of his mind making him pursue you."

"Are you saying that little black thing is a demon? That he is possessed? Matters not to me. He meant to harm me and possibly kill me. I will not sit back and allow that to happen." Elaina rose back on her toes again preparing to bring the book down upon the mage's head. "The threat is too great once he wakes." She swung the book forward intent to crush the man's skull beneath its weight. The woman quickly stood and grabbed Elaina's arms stopping her momentum. The stranger grabbed the book from her hands. She glared at the woman mustering all of her anger. "Why do you stop me? What is this man to you?"

"I love him," the woman replied. Elaina stepped back in shock. How could anyone sane love this man? She snatched the book from the other woman and looked her in the eyes. Hatred and anger and fear poured through her soul. The woman dropped her arms to her side and looked down at the mage lying on the floor. "I love him," she repeated.

* * *

"He was never truly yours to have," the spirit said to the bird. Octavius looked back at her. His eyes widened as now there was a stone staircase climbing into the clouds behind her. There was no building or room around the staircase…it was just there…in the middle of the apple orchard. She looked at him. "Come with me Octavius…it is time for us to go."

"Go?" he asked. "Go where?"

"From the troubles of this world and of the Fade. It is time for us to depart and meet the Maker," she replied with a warm smile. He knew what she was asking of him…to give up life and move beyond. He should have felt afraid but was not. Something in the way she spoke, the look in her eyes, and the warmth of her smile…he wanted to go with her. He stepped towards her and grabbed her hand. She turned to lead him up the stairs into the unknown.

"Stop! I demand it! You cannot take him from me!" the bird cried out behind them. "He is mine…mine to control…you cannot take him away!"

The woman who looked like Elaina changed back into the pale skinned and dark haired beauty as she had been when he first awoke in the orchard. She looked at the bird. "You no longer have any control over him. We are leaving this place…and you." She whispered into the mage's ear. "You go on ahead, my love, and I will be along shortly." She turned back to the bird as the mage continued to walk the stairs into the clouds.

"No! Come back! You must come back!" The bird's wings fluttered violently creating a wind more powerful than imaginable from such a small creature. The woman simply smiled at the bird as her hair flowed in the wind. Her calm demeanor made the bird more furious. "How can you do this? No creature of The Fade or mortals has ever renounced me! Never!"

"There must always be a first time," she replied calmly. She turned to walk the stairs herself.

"And what you are doing…you are killing him. Is that what you truly want, spirit?" the bird asked.

"To save him from you it must be this way," she replied not looking back. "Sometimes this is the only way to save the ones who matter the most…to save the ones you love."

"Noooooo!" the bird cried out in anger and frustration as the world around it melted into oblivion. The mage and the woman disappeared into the clouds.

* * *

Elaina held the book defensively against her chest. How could this woman seriously believe the mage was worth saving? And why was she herself in turmoil over what this woman had to say? She looked back down at the mage, but something had changed. His back no longer rose or fell with his breathing. Confused she cocked her head to the side. Was the man now dead?

"It is done," the woman stated. She looked at Elaina with sadness. "He is now gone from this world and will trouble you no longer." She turned her head to look at the black orb spiraling nearby. Elaina followed her gaze. "You understand now?" the woman said to it. "He is no longer under your control nor anyone's. He is free."

The orb pulsed as it spun not growing in size yet neither shrinking, but Elaina felt a foreboding emanating from it. She took the book and swung at the thing, but it darted from her attack and out of the room into the corridor beyond. She gave chase for a few feet until she lost it in the darkness. She turned back to see the woman kneeling beside the lifeless body of the mage. Elaina let the book drop to the floor. She was not sure why, but the sense of danger to her person had passed. The woman was weeping when she looked back up at Elaina.

"Since he was a small boy I have watched and protected him," she began. "In all his life I have been there for him giving him anything he needed. He had a gift…a rare gift to mold the Fade into anything he wanted or desired." She looked back down at the mage, and Elaina blinked to check her focus. The woman was beginning to fade, and she could almost see through her body. "I love him so much I had to let him go. To free him…to save him…I had to let him die…to pass beyond and join the Maker." She looked back at Elaina now…she was an apparition. "Please…do not think ill of him. What he was before the end…that was not the man he was…the man I knew. He was sweet and gentle…and confused. He was often misunderstood in this world. Few saw him the way I did while he was in the Fade. A man of hopes and dreams…a man with a desire to just live what he considered a normal life. Never meaning harm to anyone…he just wanted to be loved."

With the last words the woman disappeared from Elaina's view. She stood confused and alone with the body of her attacker. Her thoughts conflicted with the man she experienced maliciously hunting her through the castle and the man a spirit loved and pleaded for. She forgot about the black orb that had fled into the darkness. After a few moments she turned and ran back down the hallway wanting to forget what she had seen hoping it was not a trick of the Fade seeping into this world. She hoped the terror of his intentions was over.

* * *

Jacen held his forehead against Kalindra's. His heart filled first with sadness and then joy as she told him of the trouble with the baby earlier and the miraculous healing of Madelyn. He held his hand on her stomach above their child safe in her womb. She placed her hand on top of his and smiled. Beside them Jessia was tending to Dorak. The dwarf was still winded and his breathing labored. A little further away the mage was leaning over Reginald. The man was dressed now only in his breeches, but his body was fully mended. He was sleeping while the mage recovered from the amount of healing magic she had used to repair his broken body. Before he fell asleep Jessia and Kalindra had relayed to him the gift Madelyn possessed. He still held the smile on his face.

"We must leave this place and soon," Dathon said drawing their attention. "The veil has been rendered. We must leave now and heal the breach."

"And just how are we supposed to do that? Madelyn is the only mage here," Dorak stated between coughs. "My understanding is that it takes several mages to seal a tear in the veil."

"I can do it," Madelyn stated as she started to stand. "But I am afraid I can do nothing about the collapse before us." Reginald stirred as he began to awake near her feet. "This is no small feat you are demanding."

"Madelyn is right," Jacen said. "Even if she could heal the veil as you intend…it will take us days to remove those stones from the exit." He began to stand. "We must think of another way to reach the castle. The more important thing we must do is save Elaina from Octavius. I have only imaginings of what his intentions are towards her and none of those are good."

"The stones are no more a hindrance than the city below was," Dathon replied never looking at them. He raised his hands before his chest. The rocks began to glow and the temperature rose in the tunnel. The heat became almost unbearable as the glowing intensified, and then there was a flash of white light. The mortals covered their eyes with the exception of Reginald. When the light dissipated they looked to see the collapse of stone gone and the exit clear to the courtyard beyond. "Now we may proceed," Dathon stated.

"How did you do that?" Reginald asked. "I have never seen or heard of magic like that.

"Neither have I," added Madelyn.

"It is a power no mortal can posses. I doubt I would even be capable had the veil not been torn," Dathon replied finally turning to face them. His face was sunburned from the heat of his spell. "That I was able to achieve this at all means the veil is weakening as it was before. If we do not hurry soon the demons will clear the breach and enter this world. Then all mortals in this realm will be doomed."

"We can't all go," Jacen stated. "Dorak is hurt, I dare not send Kalindra as she is with our child, and Reginald is still recovering. No doubt we have witnessed a miracle in Madelyn's abilities, but even she had limits as do all of us mortals."

"I only require the mage's help," Dathon sternly replied. "The rest of you can stay here. What you do is of little import to me, but the mage must come."

Madelyn looked at the others and smiled. "It's alright. I know what I must do."

"You will not go alone," Jacen said walking up to Dathon. "If she is going I will go as well to protect her. If the veil is as thin as you say it is and demons can enter…then she will need more protection than you can or will provide her."

"She goes nowhere without me," Reginald said drawing their attention. He tried to pull himself into a sitting position only to fall back again. Madelyn knelt down next to him. "I do not trust him, my love. Not with your life."

"I will be fine," she replied. "You are still weak. Although I can heal you I cannot replenish your energy. You must rest. I will be ok." She leaned over and kissed him. " ."

"I will protect her, Reggie," Jacen stated. "This I swear to you. She will live as long as I still breathe. And in return you will protect Kalindra and our child here in the tunnel in case we fail."

Reginald looked up at the academic and for the first time saw the warrior he once was. Jacen stood stoic before him with sword and hand above his heart. Reginald brought his own hand above his heart. "I accept your pledge…and offer mine as well. As long as I breathe your wife and child shall come to no harm."

"We must leave at once," Dathon urged and turned to walk from the tunnel. Madelyn gave Reginald another kiss and then followed the old spirit. Jacen gave a last look to Kalindra who smiled back.

Jessia looked at Dorak. He smiled at her and nodded. She kissed him and then stood. "You're not leaving here without me," she said as she ran to catch them.


	12. Chapter 12

Kalindra stood near the entrance watching the others run across the courtyard. She silently prayed to the Maker that He would see them safe from harm and close the breach Dathon mentioned. She herself was not as versed in magical knowledge as Jacen, but trusted his judgment when he left with the spirit and the mage. He had been a warrior long before he became a student of antiquity. She crossed her arms and sighed. She wanted to go with him. She turned when she heard Dorak launch into a coughing fit. The dwarf had not moved since the others had left, and her eyes widened to see a trickle of blood coming form the corner of his mouth. She ran to kneel next to him. He looked at her and smiled.

"You're bleeding," she said as she wiped some from the corner of his mouth.

"It's more than that," he grinned. Reginald lifted himself up on an elbow. "The cave-in did more than give me cuts and bruises." He coughed again and spit blood onto the floor. "I didn't want the others to know and put up a fuss over me."

"Madelyn could have healed you," Kalindra protested. "You should have said something." She started to get up. "I'll go get Jessia. She'll…"

"She knows," Dorak interrupted her. She looked at him with shock. "Jessia already knows. That's why she left."

"I don't understand," Reginald added. Dorak smiled at the Templar. "She is your wife. Why would she leave?"

"Because she would not want to watch me die. Since the day I became a Gray Warden she knew this day would come." Kalindra and Reginald gave him quizzical looks. "Once I took the taint inside me I have been slowly dying. All wardens are truly dying. It's the reason we fight the darkspawn like we do. 'In peace vigilance' is part of our creed. Even though the Blight is long over we must still guard against the next. Five there have been, but seven will there be. That means there will be two more blights before the nightmares are over. That is why the order exists despite the apparent lack of need. The troubles of the mages, the rebellions in Orlais and other countries…they all pale in comparison to the ravages of a blight." He coughed again and spat more blood onto the floor. "I joined the order of my own free will. I thought it was a great honor…and it is actually. But had I known then what I know now I might have not joined." He smiled with bloody teeth. "Thirty years we have before the taint finally takes us. There is no escaping. Madelyn cannot cure me of this no matter how powerful a healer she has become. And she needs her strength to heal whatever has happened in the castle. Her time would have been wasted on me." He coughed again. Kalindra tried to comfort him as Reginald forced himself to stand. He wobbled a little and sat back down. Dorak watched him and grinned. "You have fight in you, Reggie. That is good. Your friend will need that in the days to come."

"But why did Jessia leave?" Kalindra asked. "I could never leave Jacen's side if he were…"

"Dying? Would you truly want to be there when that happens? I wonder…and I mean no insult by this…but have you ever seen someone die?" He placed a weak hand on her cheek. Tears welled in her eyes. "It is heartache enough to know when one you love has died. It is far greater still to watch it happen. I would not wish that upon her." He held his side as he tried to stand.

"What are you doing?" Reginald asked.

"Going somewhere to die."

"But why?" Kalindra asked. He stood and placed his hand back on her cheek. "You should not be alone."

"I don't want you to watch me die either," he smiled. She started sobbing. Reginald bowed his head knowing all too well what the dwarf was saying. He had seen death…caused it. He understood what the warden was saying even if the elf did not. "Let me leave and spare you that pain." He turned to walk back down into the darkness of the tunnel. He stopped and looked back. "I wish you long life, my friends. And may the Maker watch over you and your child." With that he left them staring after him as he disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

Jessia ran after the others but stayed just behind them. As they entered the castle Dathon led them to a destination only he knew. She stopped and watched them walk around a corner. She found a chair against a wall and sat down. Tears welled in her eyes as she thought about the good times of her marriage. She knew she would never see her husband alive again. He said nothing, but she knew the look he had given her and what it meant. When she felt his chest she felt the broken ribs. His lungs had been punctured by the cave-in caused by the mage. His look said it was his time and he was ready. But she was not. Jessia knew this day would come, but she expected it to be from some excursion into the Deep Roads with other wardens. Tears flowed along her cheeks as she sat and cursed the day he had joined the order. They were never warned of the dangers of becoming a warden…the price to pay for taking the taint inside oneself.

She leaned forward and placed her head in her hands openly sobbing. She was not prepared to be a widow. This mission was not supposed to be dangerous. It shouldn't have been. She thought of all the ways she had thought this day would come. A warden from Amaranthine telling her of Dorak's death by the hands of some darkspawn, bandits along the road as they travelled, or Crow assassins finally finishing the job that had brought them together. Never did she think his death would come from some mage attacking them because he could not control his lust. The mage…he was responsible for killing Dorak. Her sadness joined with a rage she had not felt in a long time. The mage Octavius was the reason her husband lay dying in a dark tunnel. She lifted her head from her hands and stood from the chair. Part of her had left to help find Elaina who was missing. But now she had a new purpose in coming into the castle. Revenge…she would make the mage suffer at her hands the way she was suffering…and then he would die by her hands just as Dorak lay dying by his.

* * *

Elaina walked down the hallway. She had left the body of the mage behind never wanting to see it again. She was still confused over what had happened. The woman had appeared and then disappeared again…and the attacker was now dead. She came to a corner and followed absentmindedly. Her thoughts wondered over the events of the past hour. From the mage's attack on the others and then her narrow escape. She stopped when she came to a room with an open door. She looked around and things seemed…clearer…yet not. She felt a tingle in the air and a shiver ran down her spine. She stepped closer to the doorway and peered into the room. Inside were two people talking. 'Funny how I had not heard them before,' she thought to herself.

A man and a woman were inside sitting on the edge of a bed. His arm was around her shoulder while his other hand was groping her breast inside her blouse, and he was nuzzling her neck. The woman's eyes were closed and her hand was in the man's lap. Both were young…perhaps young enough for their first time. Suddenly an older man appeared behind them holding a knife. Elaina wanted to scream but couldn't. The older man said something she could not hear. The two youths turned towards the man as he brought the knife down into the young man's back. There was a scream from the woman…and then they vanished. Elaina blinked and rubbed her eyes. When she looked back the young couple was back on the edge of the bed as they were when she had first seen them. The whole scene replayed itself twice. Elaina could not understand what she was witnessing. Each time the older man brought the knife down stabbing the young man the scene would reset. Was this some trick of the Fade? Or was this something that had happened in this room some time in the past replaying over and over? She left the room and continued down the hallway. She found another room and more apparitions. This time two men were arguing in some language she did not understand. In another room a couple was fawning over their newborn child. 'These could not be ghosts,' she thought, 'ghosts do not exist. There is no evidence of spirits of mortals trapped in the world. They were supposed to have gone through the Fade into another realm beyond. At least that is what the chantry says.' Yet as she continued down the hallway each room held a scene from the past. She began to wonder if ghosts really did exist.

When she finally came to another corner she turned and the feeling of unease left. The world around her shifted back to the normal shady appearance it had before with light and shadow. She cautiously approached the next room. It was empty. No apparitions or sign it had been lived in for ages. She shrugged her shoulders and continued walking down the hallway. When she got back home to civilization she planned to write a book about what she had seen. She would leave the part with Octavius out of the writing though.

* * *

It roamed the halls of the castle. After its defeat over control of the dreamer by the intruder spirit it felt diminished. It had anticipated the pain and suffering of the woman to such a degree it had lost focus of everything else around it. Now it had no avenue to feed its hunger. It drew strength from the Fade, but the pain and pleasure of the Fade was not as whole or pure as that of the mortal realm. The taste was not as sweet. But over mortals it had no control unless the Fade was present. Mortals like the dreamer gave it that power and that level of control. Others like the dreamer called mages had a connection to the Fade, and it could control them to a degree, but the taste was not whole or as pure as one taken from the actions of a dreamer. The other mage, however, it could not control. Where it thrived on pain with pleasure the mage healed pain…took it away. Pleasure without pain was not enough. Desire demons thrived on pleasure, but it did not without the pain. It needed the pain. It needed the combination of both to survive.

As it roamed the shadows it felt the presence of the Fade much as it was when it first came to this world. Some vestiges of pain still existed in this old castle, but the taste was hollow and bittersweet. It was not real and lasting. But still it could sense the Fade fresh here. It moved towards the opening it knew existed. It came to a long room where the ethereal hunters battled with demons. The Fade poured into this realm through a hole in the veil. It hovered in the shadows near the ceiling of the room watching the turmoil beneath it. The demons were winning the battle. The doorway between realms was widening ever so slowly. It relished the thought of the hunters' defeat much as it had been defeated. But that too was a hollow victory. The mortals left in the castle were too few and the time for the pain and pleasure would be too short. It could return to the Fade and try to find another opening into the mortal world from which to emerge. During that time it could feed on the dreams of mortals as it had in the beginning. Yes…it would return to the Fade and try again. But first it needed the battle below to finish. It focused on one of the larger demons trying to enter through the tear…a demon of pride. It whispered to the creature as only a demon could to another. The demon of pride stepped forward to the tear and gripped the sides with both paws. It gave the demon all the power it could spare. Strengthened by its will the demon of pride opened the tear wider…wide enough for some of the smaller demons to emerge into the room and this realm. He whispered to them, and they attacked the hunters kneeling on the floor.

* * *

Jessia ran down a hallway but instead of an ending or a turn it became a large room like a library. Near a row of tables she saw the body of a man lying facedown on the floor. She walked to it and kicked it over onto its back. The man was the mage…the one she was looking for. She knelt over and placed her hand over his mouth. She could detect no breathing. Unsheathing a dagger she held the blade before her mouth and blew on the steel. It fogged with the moisture from her breath. Satisfied she lowered the blade next to the mage's mouth. Nothing happened. The mage was not breathing and was truly dead. A dread filled her chest as she realized her vengeance had been taken from her. But by whom? She scanned the room looking for Elaina, but there was no trace of her. She was not in the room living or dead. She looked at the dagger in her hand and then the body beneath her. For surety's sake she drove it into the man's heart. Tears welled in her eyes as she withdrew the bloody blade. "For you, my love," she whispered and stood up. Inhaling deeply she made one last scan of the room. Finding nothing else of interest she turned and ran back into the hallway. She still wanted to find Elaina and hoped to find her safe and sound.

Her sense of direction was unmatched, and as she ran through the maze of hallways she was ever aware of where she was. Looking from room to room she searched for the woman Octavius had abducted. She stopped by one room and her eyes widened in horror. Inside was the mage and Elaina. She could almost see through them. Elaina's body was beaten and broken bent over a table. The mage thrust himself inside the woman over and over with a look of pure evil. Jessia shuddered and her hand gripped the dagger in her hand. Elaina's body was limp. The mage reared his head back and yelled in pleasure. Jessia could no longer hold back and ran forward intent to drive the blade into the man. As she neared him he disappeared…as did Elaina. Jessia stopped in confusion with dagger poised to strike at…nothing. The room was empty. She looked at the table, the floor, the desk near the wall, the empty bed…no sign at all that what she had just witnessed ever occurred. Slowly the dagger fell to her side. She blinked slowly and backed to the doorway. How could this be? She kept backing up and into something in the hall. She spun around and came face to face with Elaina….unharmed. She looked the woman over and not a bruise or scrape beyond what she imagined had happened at the tunnel. She looked back at the room and it was still empty. She looked back at the woman standing before her.  
"Jessia," Elaina asked. "Is that you? Are you really here?"

"I would ask you the same after what I have just witnessed," she replied. She sheathed her dagger and poked Elaina in the shoulder. She felt real.

"You can keep poking me all you like, but I assure you I am standing here in the flesh," Elaina said with a grin. "And by your actions I take it you are actually here as well…you poked me hard enough."

"I found Octavius…he was dead," Jessia stated. "Did you do that?"

"No…although I truly wanted to," was the reply. "I was ready to kill him, but I was stopped."

"Stopped? By what?" Jessia asked.

"I…I…am not sure to be honest," Elaina replied. "I only know something was there…then it wasn't…and he was dead."

"And he did not touch you? I mean I just saw…" Jessia examined Elaina again for any sign that what she had seen had happened. Nothing on the woman's body suggested it had.

"Saw what?" Elaina asked looking past Jessia into the empty room.

"I saw…it was nothing really," Jessia said. She decided the less Elaina knew of what she had seen done to her…the better. "First we need to get you out of this castle and back to the others in the tunnel."

"I have been trying to leave, but I am hopelessly lost. These hallways are a maze," Elaina resigned.

"I know the way," Jessia said with a smile. "You can tell me along the way." With that she led Elaina down the hallway.

* * *

Room after room they passed was filled with visions of people enacting things from their daily lives or horrific events. Jacen was perplexed until Dathon explained they were specters of the Fade representing things that had happened or the wild imaginings of the people who once lived here. Some still troubled him, but Madelyn seemed unfazed by what she saw. Being a mage he assumed she was familiar with the strange occurrences perhaps having witnessed things similar before. No matter what his feelings about the events unfolding he ran to keep pace with Dathon who was leading them through the castle. Its layout was unlike any he had come across. It was more of a labyrinth than a castle with a network of hallways aligned in a maze. He had no doubt Dathon knew his way around the place. He just was not sure what to expect when they got to wherever it was they were going. Things were strange enough as it was in Jacen's mind.

Ahead Dathon stopped near a corner. He turned to face the two with him. "The situation is worse than I thought," he said to them. "Demons have entered this world."

"Are we too late?" Jacen asked not knowing what to do. He had never faced demons before. Could a demon be killed with a blade?

"I know what I must do," Madelyn said beside him. He was glad at least she knew her part. "But I will need full concentration to do it. I cannot fight demons and heal the breach at the same time."

"You must protect her," Dathon said to him.

"I am no mage. Can this harm a demon?" he asked brandishing his sword. "Can mortal weapons harm the creatures of the Fade?"

"In this realm they can be slain as any other," Dathon replied. He turned and unsheathed his own weapon. "You must keep them from her at all costs…even with your own life if need be."

"And if we fail?" he asked.

"Then all is lost," the spirit said and ran ahead to a room just past the corner.

Jacen and Madelyn followed. They entered the room in the midst of chaos. Several demons were fighting with people. Behind them was a hole in the very air. The landscape beyond was twisted and gnarled…a facsimile of the real world. A human woman and an elven man lay dead near the opening with several creatures dead around them. Dathon joined the others in their fight. A couple of them used magic as lightning and fire sprouted from their hands. The air was cold and the sounds of battle deafening. Madelyn beside him stood straight as a board. She placed her hands before her chest as if in prayer and bowed her head closing her eyes. Jacen watched as her body began to glow faintly like he had seen back in the tunnel. He turned from her to look at the opening. It was inching its way to closing. He stood before her ready to attack anything that came their way. One of the foul creatures approached him. It looked like a woman with grey mottled skin. Her body was near perfect in form, but from her head were horns like a ram. She sauntered close to him. He brought his sword up to defend himself and strike the demon. It smiled at him and in the blink of an eye she looked like Kalindra. Her stomach was swollen with their child, and she spoke to him.

"Jacen my love…you would not harm me…would you?" She stepped closer to him. "Would you harm our child?" He stood paralyzed looking at the mother of his unborn child. Confusion washed over him. What was he doing again? Where was he? "Come, my love, and drop your sword," she said to him.

He lowered his arm with the sword. "Kalindra?" he asked.

"Don't listen to her! Kill her!" He looked up and saw Dathon shouting at him and fighting a creature almost as tall as the ceiling. He looked back at the woman he called wife. "She is tricking you! Kill her…now!"

The look on her face was peaceful and serene. He loved this woman with all his being. He could not harm her. "I cannot!" he replied. "I cannot kill the woman I love. The mother of my child."

"It is not who it appears to be! Kill it…protect the healer!" Dathon screamed. The creature he was fighting bore down upon him. "Kill it before all is lost!"

"I…I…cannot…" he began.

From behind him a dagger flew through air and struck Kalindra in the forehead. Her head went back…too far back…and she began to fall. Jacen's eyes widened in panic as he watched his love killed before him. Dread overwhelmed his heart. The sword dropped from his hand to the floor. He blinked a few times and looked down at Kalindra's body, but it was not her. Lying in the ground was the grey skinned demon. The dagger protruded from her head like her horns…and there was no blood. It just lay there motionless. Jacen turned his head to see where the dagger came from. He saw the mage still in a trance and glowing, and behind her in the doorway stood Jessia with a smile on her face.

"Need a hand?" she asked.

* * *

Madelyn looked deep inside herself as she concentrated on healing the veil. She could see the fabric mending and knitting much like weaving a quilt. But more than that she could see those fighting beside her. She could see their bodies, and with each wound they suffered she mended them. She envisioned herself multiplied around the room fixing and healing. Three versions of her worked on the tear in the veil. On more each for Jacen, Jessia, and Elaina. She saw no other beings in the room but knew there were some others. In her trance she could only concentrate on the living. As the fighting intensified she looked deeper inside. She had been cut on the arm, and a version of her appeared to heal the cut. Another joined the one with Jacen as he suffered a gash on his head. Deeper inside herself she delved. The version with her now left to join the others on the tear. It was mending slowly but well. Too fast and the veil would tear again, but too slow and the stitching would not hold. She felt no other sensations around her but the pain of the others. Each cut…each bruise…each scrape penetrated her, and she moved a version of herself to remove the pain.

Suddenly she became aware of another presence in the room. Black and foreboding it was looming in the shadows. A version of her looked at it and through her other's eyes saw it. A black swirling orb as large as the ceiling itself. No other creature in the room was comparable in size, and no other could match its power. She felt it seething at her. It was pure pain in form.

"You dare interfere?' it called to her. "You take away that which I crave!"

All the versions of her responded together, but none looked at it save the one already doing so. "The pain is something I must remove. I must heal the others. It is my purpose."

The room blackened as the orb increased in size encompassing the room. Madelyn could see nothing in the darkness except the versions of her glowing with the light of her essence. The blackness was overbearing and suffocating. She delved even deeper inside herself to her very soul.

"You can never defeat me! I am eternal. As long as there is life there is pain. All mortals live with pain…and as long as there are mortals I have power…I am inescapable!" it declared.

"I may not defeat you," she replied calmly, "but I can diminish you." She released the energy of her soul…as did the other versions of her. Their combined light removed the suffocation and brightened the room. The shadow grew smaller retreating to a corner. The versions of her moved to the far edges of the room removing all the shadows. The orb lay quivering in a corner. One of her versions picked it up from the floor and walked towards her. With outstretched hand she held it. She felt it biting at her palm struggling to free itself.

* * *

Jacen swung his sword to cleave another demon's head from its body. He glanced at the opening in the air, and his heart gladdened to see it visibly getting smaller. It was no larger than the head of a child. He looked back at Madelyn. The glow from her began to intensify bathing the entire room in a pale blue hue. He stopped and stared as she opened her eyes and her arm stretched forward and her hand closed as if holding something that was not there.

"You no longer have power here," she said. He still could not see anything before her. She walked towards the tear which was now barely larger than a fist and stuck her hand through it. "Never return to this world." Jacen's eyes widened as she relaxed her hand as if releasing what she held and removed it…and the tear closed behind her.


	13. Final Chapter

One year later…

Jacen looked out the window to the courtyard below. Children ran amongst the tents and pavilions that had arisen as scholars from all over Thedas gathered to study the ruins he and his team had discovered. Most of the men and women that came to the site were seeking knowledge of a past forgotten until the snows fell and uncovered a treasure of historical significance. True that some below had come seeking treasure with value in coin. Jacen grinned to himself. There was little to any treasure worth any coin, but enough that the teyrn and king had left a garrison of soldiers in the cave city below to keep peace amongst the growing population. Even the Grey Wardens were present. With a team of dwarves they had cleared the stone barricade to the tunnel that led to the Deep Roads. Supplies for the new inhabitants were brought to the site by the Drydens from Soldier's Peak. The family had been given exclusive rights to bring their wares and services by the king and teyrn. Jacen never learned what their connection was to the two former Grey Wardens, but he also knew never to look a gift horse in the mouth as the saying went.

A man entered the room and walked towards Jacen. He turned to examine the newcomer to the old throne room. His hair was dark and wavy falling down to his jawline. Streaks of gray sprouted from just above his ears. His eyes were a dark emerald color. Jacen smiled as the man walked closer. "Any news from below?" Jacen asked.

"None worth mentioning," the man replied. "Just that the Wardens found a cave-in at the end of the tunnel, so we are safe from any darkspawn incursions for the immediate future." The man stopped to stand beside Jacen at the window. He looked down and smiled. "All the rest of the news is the common type of late. This scholar is angry with another because of some infraction or another. Two this morning were arguing over who had rights to view a book taken from the library."

"I meant on a more personal note, Reggie," Jacen smiled.

"None…absolutely none," the former Templar smiled back. "I think it is safe to assume the Tower, the Templars, and the Seekers have forgotten all about Maddie and I. I have no news of inquiries or active searches for either of us. Even the teyrn and king have sent word that they have heard nothing from their contacts about us. For once in my life I feel I can finally relax."

"No news is good news, my friend," Jacen replied. "So I guess that means the two of you can start thinking about having a family." Reginald frowned beside him. "What is it?"

"We never told you, but we cannot have children. Maddie's ability…while it is a truly wondrous blessing from the Maker…it also comes with a price."

"I am sorry," Jacen began, but he stopped when Reginald's smile returned.

"I'm not. I have lived too long to think about children. Parenting is something for people like you and Kalindra. But for Maddie and me…we are much older than you. I do not want to be spend the rest of my days chasing little brats and worrying about them as they grow older. Life is splendid enough that we get to share our future together. It is something Maddie and I have talked about for some time. And the sex…amazing." Reginald's grin widened. "There is something liberating about fucking and never worrying about fathering a child." He leaned in and whispered. "Plus since she restored my vision…I can't look at her without hardening…it's the best thing in the world."

"Yes…Kalindra and I have noticed the increased…activity…in some of the places of the castle."

Reginald turned to leave the room. "I would say I was sorry about that…but I am not. In fact…I think I need to see if Maddie and I can increase that more."

The man walked briskly out of the door and down the hallway. Jacen smiled and then laughed. It was hard to believe this was the same man that had come to this mountain a year ago a hunted fugitive with an apostate mage. Yet both had become like family. The change from the stoic and edgy Templar to the carefree man who just left…and similar changes to her…Jacen was glad to see the couple find some happiness that had been kept from them because of their station in life.

Changes were good. He turned and looked back out the window. Yes…some changes were good. Others had not been. Jessia had left to join the Grey Wardens not long after her husband had died. She did not survive the Joining. Kalindra and Madelyn had both taken the news of her death hard. Elaina had left for Tevinter to study magic and mages. Specifically she was interested about the Fade and the spirits that lived within. She was slain in an alley by an escaping slave…one that had been experimented upon by his magister master. Jacen remembered cautioning her on studying in Tevinter. She had only smiled and stated it was the best place in the world to study and find the answers she sought. News of her death brought great sorrow to the remaining four.

Still…life continued. There were secrets here in the castle as well with questions he was not sure he would ever find the answers to. The spirits like Dathon had all left as had the demons. Not only was the architecture of the castle stranger than any in existence. So was the language in the tomes and books they had discovered. Linguists were still trying to decipher the texts even after a year of intense study. Until the language was understood and translated what had happened here before the tear in the veil and the lifestyles of the people who made this their home would remain a mystery. And it had become a home of sorts for his family in the present. His daughter was almost a year old now. His newly bestowed lordship would ensure a solid future for her despite her parentage. In Ferelden she would be accepted as an equal because although she appeared to be human…she was also half elven. Nowhere else in Thedas would her future be as secure as it was here…a rare benefit of a teyrn and king who had also been Grey Wardens and heroes of the Blight. What Jacen discovered here he hoped would be his legacy to her. That was his driving motivation…to secure a bright future for his daughter….and that would start in the past…as most things did.


End file.
